The Manila Times

UnionBank expands bond program to P50B

ABOITIZ-LED Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is increasing its peso-denominated bonds program to P50 billion from P39 billion.

The bank made the announcement in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday.

“Please be informed that the board of directors of Union Bank of the Philippines at its regular meeting held on March 24, 2023, approved the increase in the bank’s PHP Bonds Program from P39.0 billion to P50.0 billion and the issuance of up to P30.0 billion out of the Bonds Program,” it said.

The bank, however, did not provide additional details on the planned issuance, like the size of the offering and timetable.

Last month, the bank completed a P12-billion stock rights offering (SRO) that was well-received by shareholders. It concluded the offering of approximately 210.97 million common shares priced at P56.88 per share.

The shares were offered to eligible shareholders as of Jan. 12, 2023, at a ratio of one rights share for every 10.1536 existing common shares.

The shares were listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange on February 6, resulting in total outstanding shares amounting to over 2.35 billion.

Proceeds from the SRO will be used to solidify the bank’s capital adequacy and financial strength, and to execute its strategic growth initiatives by expanding its balance sheet to meet growing demand from its target markets.

Last year, UnionBank posted a net income of P12.7 billion, almost unchanged from the P12.6 billion net profit a year ago. This translated to a return on average equity of 9.7 percent, which took into consideration the impact of the P40billion additional capital coming from the stock rights offer last May 2022.

Revenues mainly came from net interest income and fee-based income, which compensated for the absence of trading gains. Net revenues reached a record P52.2 billion, 16 percent higher year on year.

Net interest income increased by 31 percent to P38.9 billion on account of higher margins and volume. Net interest margins expanded by 27 basis points to 4.9 percent, driven by the higher proportion of consumer loans to total loans and the robust growth of low-cost CASA deposits (up 29 percent year on year).

UnionBank’s share price rose by 20 centavos or 0.23 percent on Monday to P85.50.

Corporate News

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2023-03-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281956022039048

The Manila Times