Sta. Lucia Land sets Q4 date for bond mart debut

STA. LUCIA Land, Inc. intends to push through with its up to P5- billion maiden bond offering in the fourth quarter, braving a financial market whiplashed by volatility and possibly flooded with new listings.

“It will proceed as planned,” Sta. Lucia Chief Financial Officer David M. Dela Cruz said in a phone interview, noting that the debt issuance may happen “towards November.”

A prospectus filed on July 9 showed Sta. Lucia intends to raise P3 billion from an offering of Series A bonds due 2018 and series B bonds due 2021, with an option to sell another P2 billion in case of strong demand.

Several capital- raising initiatives are in the pipeline in the fourth quarter with a combined P32.5- billion initial public offering size from different companies planning to debut on the stock market during that period.

“We don’t compete with equity issuers for money. We’re targeting a different kind of investors,” Mr. Dela Cruz said.

China Bank was tapped as the issue manager, lead underwriter and bookrunner of the offering.

Net proceeds of as much as P4.90 billion from the debt issuance — the first for the real estate firm — will be used to partly refinance existing debt, capital expenditures for land banking and ongoing projects, and general corporate purposes.

Sta. Lucia said in July that it has an outstanding debt amounting to P3.01 billion from BDO Unibank, Inc., China Banking Corp., Rizal Commercial and Banking Corp., and Asia United Bank. The loans carry interest rates between 4.75% and 6% per annum, maturing between this year and 2018.

If the oversubscription option will not be tapped, the property firm will use net proceeds of P2.94 billion to settle the debt.

The developer is buying 223 hectares ( ha) of land worth P2.877 billion across Quezon City (40 ha), Rizal (18.1 ha), Batangas (98 ha), Laguna, (10.7 ha), Iloilo (33.2 ha) and Davao (23 ha).

Sta. Lucia’s net profit went up 31% year on year to P402 million in the first half from P307 million, as revenues climbed 67% to P1.6 billion from P956 million a year ago.

Originally incorporated in 1996 as Zipporah Mining and Industrial Corp., Sta. Lucia changed its primary purpose to that of a real estate company in 1996. Its portfolio consists of horizontal and vertical properties across the country, as well as a shopping mall in Cainta — Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall.

The company’s shares were unchanged at 70 centavos apiece last Friday.