Union Bank of the Philippines raised P18.168 billion from its dual peso fixed-rate bond issuance, the bank's biggest bond program so far. 

UnionBank reported this amount emerged more than nine times bigger than the initial plan of P2 billion which was equally divided for its 1.5-year bonds and 3-year bonds.

"This is the largest bond issuance by UnionBank from its P50-billion bonds program, which received strong demand from both retail and institutional investors," the bank's disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange said Monday.

Breaking down the newly raised capital, the  1.5-year bonds attracted subscriptions amounting to P10.3385 billion. These bonds provided 6.5625 percent interest rate per annum.

Meanwhile, the 3-year bonds raised P7.8295 billion at an interest rate of 6.6800 percent per annum. 

Option to swap

UnionBank offered investors the option to swap the dual bonds with  their  P8.115-billion Series C bonds with 2.75 percent interest rate until 24 November.

"Any interest accruing to the exchangeable bonds from the date of the last interest payment up to and including the issue date of the new bonds will be paid on 4 December," UnionBank said.

For sale at the secondary market, UnionBank has issued and listed the dual bonds on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. today.

The dual bond offer was announced last 20 November after the bank posted a net income of P8.1 billion in the first nine months with a loan portfolio growth of 18 percent.

Meanwhile, operating costs surged by 63 percent, following UnionBank's acquisition of Citi's credit card business and continuous enhancement of its digital bank called UnionDigital Bank.