PCI Leasing gets go-signal for P100-M STCP float

PCI Leasing and Finance Inc. (PCILF), a publicly-listed finance company, was given the green light by the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue P100 million worth of short-term commercial papers, which the company will use to finance relending activities and pay off maturing obligations.

Tapped as lead underwriter for the issue was PCI Capital Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Equitable-PCI Bank and an affiliate of PCILF.

PCILF offers a wide range of services such as direct lease, sale and leaseback arrangements, commercial and consumer loans, factoring and discounting and personal loans program.

The company’s P100 million STCPs have been assigned a PRS1 rating by credit rating agency Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings). The rating is defined as: "Strongest capability for timely payment of debt instrument issue on both interest and principal."

In determining the rating, PhilRatings considered PCILF’s strong liquidity position relative to the size of the issue applied for; its revenue and profit-generating capabilities compared to other players in the industry; its sizeable capital base and conservative debt position; and its access to a significant amount of credit facilities, largely resulting from having a very supportive shareholder in Equitable PCI Bank.

Last year, PCILF’s revenues amounted to P576 million while net income was at P307 million, or an increase of 53 percent from the previous year’s P201 million.

On a selective basis, the company also provides loans to individuals, primarily through its employee personal loans product.

PCILF’s head office is in Pasig City but it has seven branches located in Cagayan de Oro, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Imus and San Pablo.

The company reported a gross income of P262.08 million in the first six months of the year, an increase of 4.42 percent from the previous year’s P250.98 million.

Interest, discounts and service fees amounted to P255.75 million, up by 6.41 percent from P240.34 million a year ago.

Other income fell 40.5 percent due to a more lenient approach in penalizing late payments due to marketing consideration. The company’s loan portfolio as of June 30, 2003 was P4.25 billion or a 34.42 percent increase froom P3.16 billion as of the same period a year earlier.

To boost its volume, PCILF will continue to market its products and also use the extensive network of the branches of Equitable-PCI Bank.

PCILF will also continue to monitor its cost of funds to keep it at a level that will allow it to continuously offer competitive lending rates.