AYALA-LED Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has returned to the offshore capital markets — for the first time since 2019 — with the successful issuance of $400 million (about P22.5 billion) in five-year Reg S senior unsecured notes.

Proceeds from the offering, issued under the bank's $3-billion medium-term notes program, will be used for refinancing and other general corporate purposes, BPI told the stock exchange on Wednesday.

The notes were priced at the US Treasury spread of T+105 basis points (bps) with a coupon of 5.25 percent, "representing the tightest ever spread on a five-year bond from a non-sovereign Philippine issuer," it noted.

Following positive investor feedback, BPI proceeded with the launch of the transaction bookbuilding on Tuesday, with an initial pricing guidance of T+140 bps area.

The notes, rated Baa2 by Moody's, were oversubscribed by more than three times, and the issue size "was increased from the original indications of $300 million (approximately P16.9 billion) to accommodate the strong oversubscription levels," it added.

The Ayala-led bank expects the transaction to be completed on March 26.

BPI Capital Corp. was tapped as the sole global coordinator, while JP Morgan, Mizuho, Standard Chartered Bank, and UBS acted as the joint lead managers.

BPI earlier reported a 30.5-percent surge in net income in 2023 to P51.7 billion from P39.6 billion the year before, fueled by higher revenues and lower provisions that offset increased operating costs.

The "solid" financial results, the bank said, demonstrated its strong customer franchise and deeper customer engagement, resulting in "record" volumes and market share gains in various businesses.

BPI's share price slipped 0.73 percent to P121.80 on Wednesday amid a 0.12-percent rise for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.

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