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EAST West Banking Corp. said it completed last week a fund-raising
exercise aimed at expanding the lender’s offerings.
Antonio Moncupa, East West Bank president, said
the lender raised P1.25 billion through the issuance of tier 2
capital notes at an effective rate of 8.625 percent. This is lower
than the prevailing yield of roughly 9 percent for five-year
government IOUs trading in the secondary market.
The success of the float, Moncupa said, was a
result of the market’s liquidity, as interest rates are expected
to rise on the back of high inflation.
“There was more than enough interest for our
paper,” he said.
The executive said the fund-raising strengthened
East West Bank’s capital adequacy ratio to 18 percent from 14
percent prior to the debt paper sale.
“Our vision is to grow the bank and make it an
active player in the market,” Moncupa said.
Under its expansion program, East West Bank
plans to raise its branch network to 120 until 2010. For this year,
the lender plans to add more branches.
Moncupa said East West Bank may also expand its
assets through the acquisition of another bank but no firm prospects
are on the table.
-- Maricel E. Burgonio
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