Microfinance firm issues P500-million notes

MANILA, Philippines - CARD Inc., one of the country’s most successful microfinance institutions (MFI), has successfully issued P500 million worth of corporate notes in a deal that involved six major financial institutions.

 The five-year, fixed-rate funding facility carries an interest rate of eight to 8.3 percent.

Internationally-acclaimed Grameen Foundation acted as CARD’s adviser and guarantor for its earlier credit-raising efforts.

The debt issue involved three financial units of the SM Group of Companies - Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO), BDO Private Bank Inc. and BDO Leasing and Finance Inc. – along with Security Banking Corp., Allied Banking Corp. and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).

Lead arranger of the issue was SB Capital Investment Corp., the investment arm of Security Bank.

SB Capital director Manuel C. San Diego said the groundbreaking debt issue was oversubscribed, and that more banks wanted to join the pool.

“We had to limit the players as too many lenders would dilute it into small amounts,” he said.

He said this shows the huge potential the landmark deal would attract other MFIs to undertake similar fund-raising exercises, adding that the transaction proved that the MFI sector is a viable market.

“It is a not a philanthropic activity, it is a viable commercial transaction,” he said.

CARD director for fund resources management Mary Jane A. Parreras said the amount raised would fund the company’s medium-term expansion plans, including branch expansion in the Visayas region and the full computerization of its operations.

Parreras revealed that CARD has an outstanding loan portfolio of P1.8 billion and total resources of P2 billion. It already has P697 million in loan distribution in the first semester of 2009.

CARD currently has 449,043 borrowers, all of which are women, with a loan default rate at just under two percent. It is allied with CARD Bank, a 30-branch rural bank, and the Rural Bank of Sto. Tomas (Batangas), both of which are involved in micro-lending.

Due to the successful launch, Parreras said they are already looking into the possibility of issuing another tranche of about the same amount.

Meanwhile, Grameen Foundation said they have been approached by a number of MFIs for possible guarantee or direct loans.

The Washington-based foundation has a $60 million global facility for microfinance. Of that, approximately $7 million has been allocated for the Philippines in the form of guarantees and direct loans.

Over the past years, more and more commercial banks are getting involved in microfinance either through wholesale lending, direct lending or acquisition of MFIs.