More fund-raising activities for infrastructure projects expected
THE Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) hopes to equal the volume of listings it recorded in 2017, as it sees more fund-raising activities to finance infrastructure projects.
“We’re hoping that we can equal the volume of last year. We’ll know more definite trends probably towards the end of the first semester,” PDEx Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Cesar B. Crisol told reporters at the sidelines of a company event in Makati City last week.
PDEx saw P207.43 billion worth of bonds listed on its trading platform in 2017, the highest ever in the fixed-income exchange’s history. PDEx showed a 62.55% compounded annual growth rate in the last nine years.
By the end of 2017, PDEx had P792.5 billion in total outstanding bonds.
Mr. Crisol expects fund-raising activities this year to come from the infrastructure sector.
“Most of these (fund-raising) will be those involved in infrastructure development, that will still be the focus,” Mr. Crisol said.
This is in line with the government’s goal to speed up infrastructure development in the country, aiming to spend P8.1 trillion for infrastructure projects alone in the next six years.
“It will be related to that, either as a support project or the project itself,” Mr. Crisol added.
Among the companies that conducted bond offerings last year were San Miguel Corp.’s ( SMC) power unit SMC Global Power Holdings, Inc. which raised P20 billion; Ayala Land, Inc. with P3.1 billion in fixed rate notes; Ayala Corp. with P10 billion in fixed rate bonds; and SM Prime Holdings, Inc. with P20 billion in fixed rate bonds.
So far, three companies have conducted fund-raising activities this year. Union Bank of the Philippines listed its 3 billion longterm negotiable certificates of time deposits due 2023 at 4.375% per annum last Feb. 21. SM Prime Holdings, Inc. has listed P10 billion in Series H bonds due 2023 at 5.663% and P10 billion in Series I bonds due 2025 at 6.0804% last March 1.
SMC is set to list today P20 billion in Series E bonds due 2023 at 6.25% per annum, Series F bonds due 2025, and Series G bonds due 2028.
Earlier this month, NLEX Corp., a tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., has also disclosed plans to raise P25 billion in fixed- rate bonds in the next three years.