The Bank of the Philippine Islands on Tuesday opened the offer period for its peso-denominated bonds with an aggregate principal value of P5 billion.
In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, BPI said the bonds have a fixed interest rate of 6.425 percent per annum to be paid quarterly. The bonds have a tenor of one and half years and will mature in 2025.
The required minimum investment is set at P1 million. Any amount higher than this must be in increments of P100,000.
The offer period for the fixed-income securities runs until 3 November.
Depending on the demand for the bonds, BPI said the offer value can be upsized.
For funding source diversification
"BPI will use the net proceeds of the offer for general corporate purposes, and the offer will contribute to BPI's funding source diversification," the bank's statement said.
The new bonds are part of BPI's second tranche of its P100-billion bond program, and slated for sale in the secondary market through the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corporation on 13 November.
BPI Capital Corporation and ING Bank N.V. Manila were appointed as the joint lead arrangers and selling agents of the bonds.
In recent media briefings, BPI told the media it will be pouring funds over digital technologies, including cybersecurity, as a growing population of Filipinos demand online and app-based services.
BPI in April said it would be redesigning physical branches into phygital branches featuring machines for faster transactions and virtual conference rooms for comprehensive discussions on specialized products like investments or corporate loans. BPI plans to launch 25 phygital branches this year.
Exploring tools for AI
More recently, BPI president TG Limcaoco said the bank is exploring tools for artificial intelligence to upgrade clients into subscribing to investment products offered by BPI Wealth or recommend other products to clients based on their financial behaviors and capabilities.