AYALA Land Inc. is planning to offer bonds next month and secure bank loans in a bid to raise around P60 billion this year for projects and maturing obligations.Augusto Bengzon, Ayala Land chief finance officer, treasurer and chief compliance officer, told reporters last Thursday that the real estate developer was looking at P20- to P22-billion bond issuance.'[T]he said amount is going to be through a bond offering in order to raise capital. We are in talks with seven joint lead underwriters at the moment,' Bengzon said.'We also plan to kick it off sometime early next month, with its pricing and listing in between April to mid-May,' he added.The offering will be split into five-year and 10-year bonds with the offering sizes still to be finalized.'As for the appetite of the market, the credit spreads look very attractive as we are seeing a credit spread of 25 to 40 basis points for five years and 30 to 50 basis points for the 10 years,' Bengzon said.'Based on the five and 10-year benchmark, we are looking at coupon rates of 6.2 percent to 6.9 percent for the five- and 10-year bonds.'Ayala Land is looking to raise around P60 billion this year, Bengzon said. With regards to the other P40 billion, discussions are being held with banks.'For the P40 billion, we are in talks with creditor banks, and we have already closed a 10-year facility for P5 billion,' he said.'It is going to be priced either at a five-year priceable basis or a 10-year fixed rate and will most likely carry tenors of seven to 10 years,' he added.'This, in fact, is a nice window for us as it is a good time for us to carry on long-term fixed-rate debt and we are following a rule of spreading out our maturities in order not to have any excessive amount that might need refinancing.'Ayala Land's share price dropped by 15 centavos, or 0.53 percent, to P28.05 on Thursday. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index, meanwhile, dropped by 0.20 percent.The country's financial markets were closed on Friday for a holiday.
