BPI opens offer period for SINAG Bonds

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) on Tuesday opened its offer period for fixed-rate peso-denominated sustainability bonds worth P5 billion.

These bonds are also called BPI Supporting Inclusion, Nature, and Growth Bonds or BPI SINAG Bonds.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, BPI said the offer period will end 30 May.

Option to upsize

BPI said the bond offer comes with an option to upsize depending on investor demand.

The BPI SINAG Bonds represent the first tranche of the bank’s P200-billion Bond and Commercial Paper Program and have a maturity of one and a half years.

“BPI will use the net proceeds of the offer to finance or refinance eligible projects under BPI’s Sustainable Funding Framework which is consistent with the ASEAN Sustainability Bond Standards,” BPI said.

“Bonds carrying this classification have been independently verified to have systems in place to ensure that proceeds raised will be directed toward projects with environmental and social benefits,” the bank added.

Minimum P500,000 investment

The BPI SINAG Bonds require a minimum investment of P500,000 and additional increments of P100,000. They will be listed with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. on 10 June. BPI Capital Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank are the joint lead arrangers and selling agents of the offer.

In 2021, BPI committed to stop funding new coal projects under its Energy Transition Financing Facility, which requires companies to retire their coal plants 15 years ahead of their technical lives and shift to renewable power plants.

BPI chief of sustainability Eric Luchangco said last year that the bank’s loans for eco-friendly projects already exceeded 50 percent of its energy loan portfolio.