SM Prime to offer P20B of retail bonds

Property developer SM Prime Holdings Inc. intends to raise as much as P20 billion from the issuance of seven-year fixed rate retail bonds.

In a regulatory filing submitted on Tuesday by SM Prime vice president for finance Teresa Cecilia Reyes, the company said it is seeking a permit to sell for the planned issuance of P15 billion worth of fixed-rate retail bonds.

The offer includes an oversubscription option of P5 billion with maturities of five years and seven years, but SM Prime said it is still fine-tuning the details.

“We’ll go through the process. ‘Yung fixing period will be soon. We will go through the process with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” John Nai Peng Ong, chief finance officer of SM Prime, told GMA News Online.

The interest rate for the bond issuance has also yet to be determined.

“As of this time, we have yet to determine that,” Ong said, noting that officials will have to meet first and discuss the matter.

The bond issue has been rated PRS Aaa by Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings), the highest credit rating assigned by the debt watcher.

“PRS Aaa is the highest rating assigned by PhilRatings, denoting that such obligations are of the highest quality with minimal credit risk and that the issuing company’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligations is extremely strong,” Ong said in a separate disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

SM Prime Holdings is primarily engaged in real estate folder under the business units that include malls, residential, commercial, and hotels and convention centers. — VDS, GMA News