Metrobank starts LTNCD offering
METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) on Monday began offering the second tranche of its long-term negotiable certificates of time deposits (LTNCD) worth P5 billion.
In a disclosure to the local bourse yesterday, the Ty-led bank said the deposit instruments will have a life of seven years, with a coupon rate of 3.875% per annum payable quarterly.
The minimum investment size is P50,000 with increments of P50,000 thereafter, it said.
The offer is expected to last until July 14, while the issue date is set on July 20.
Metrobank Vice- President and Head of Investor Relations Joey T. Mapa said the offer is in line with the lender’s aim to generate funds to support its general operations.
“The rational for this current offering is the same. We want to raise long term funding to support our loan growth. Our target size is P5 billion but we have flexibility to issue more if we see the demand,” Mr. Mapa said in an emailed response.
The sole arranger and selling agent for the LTNCD offer is ING Bank N.V. Metrobank will also act as a selling agent along with its investment banking arm, First Metro Investment Corp.
The P5-billion offering is part of the bank’s P20- billion pesodenominated LTNCD program, which it announced last year.
Metrobank marketed the first tranche in August 2016, offering P5 billion worth of seven-year LTNCDs that carried a coupon rate of 3.5% per annum. The bank closed the offer early due to oversubscription and raised P8.65 billion from the transaction.
LTNCDs, like the regular time deposits, offer higher interest rates. Unlike time deposits, however, LTNCDs cannot be pre-terminated. They are called “negotiable” because they can be sold at the secondary market.
In the first quarter, the bank posted a 6% income growth to P5.6 billion from P5.25 billion in the same months last year, on the back of sustained growth in its core business.
The bank’s consolidated assets during the period stood at P1.9 trillion and equity at P200.5 billion. Its total capital adequacy ratio — a measure of a bank’s financial strength — was at 15.6% while common equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 12.8%.
Shares in Metrobank closed at P87.20 each on Tuesday, down by 75 centavos or 0.85% from its previous finish of P87.95 per share.