Mid-sized lender RCBC has started selling five-year bonds that attracted the attention of investors from around the region. The IOU form part of a $2 billion offering to support environment-friendly projects and programs in the country.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) on Friday said its $300 million five-year senior unsecured fixed-rate sustainability bonds has secured warm reception from the global bond market.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the Yuchengco-led lender said its final orderbook for the issuance was five times oversubscribed, with orders coming from over 100 accounts. RCBC started selling the bonds on 4 September. It will be issued at 99.751 with a coupon of 3.000 percent per annum and will mature on 11 September 2024.

“The transaction saw strong interest from a wide range of high quality Asian and European investors, which allowed the bank to tighten the final price guidance to 170-175 basis points over the five-year US Treasury yield,” RCBC said.

Asset managers and fund managers accounted for 74 percent of the orderbook while bank treasury and insurance made up 18 percent. Corporates, private banks and other investors were eight percent of the orderbook.

RCBC senior executive vice president and treasurer Horacio E. Cebrero III said the lender is particularly pleased “with the investor diversification that was achieved in this offering.”

“RCBC is extremely proud of the interest this issuance received from SRI investors, further strengthening our resolve to promote sustainable practices and support our clients’ sustainability goals,” he was quoted as saying.

The bonds will be issued on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading, Ltd., along with RCBC’s three other dollar-denominated bonds, on 11 September.

The offering is part of RCBC’s $2 billion medium term note program and is guided by its Sustainable Finance Framework, under which the net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund its eligible green projects or finance or refinance loans to customers.

In June, RCBC also raised P8 billion from its sale of two-year sustainability bonds, higher than its initial issue size of P5 billion on the back of strong interest from retail investors.

RCBC’s net income rose 23 percent in the first half of the year, to P2.7 billion from P2.2 billion in the same period last year, propelled by its core businesses.