Ayala Land to sell new batch of 'Homestarter' bonds

MANILA, Philippines - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. will be selling a new series of “Homestarter” bonds worth up to P1.08 billion, targeting middle-income individuals and couples who desire to own residential projects developed by the Ayala Group.   

In October, ALI successfully raised P504 million from the second tranche of its Homestarter bond issue which was fully oversubscribed. The property firm initially raised P130 million from the first tranche in November 2006.   

The third tranche of the bond offering is targeted on April 16, 2010. The bonds, which will be issued in denominations of P5,000, carry a fixed rate of five percent per annum and mature in three years.   

The Homestarter program aims to encourage low to middle-income families to save funds to be able to buy properties in the future. It gives prospective investors a chance to earn a yield significantly higher than those paid by traditional savings and time deposit accounts.   

Under the program, buyers can set aside as low as P5,000 a month for a bond subscription over 36 months. The resulting P180,000 will earn five percent a year. BPI Capital Corp. has been tapped as issue manager.   

As of September 2009, ALI had P106.4 billion in assets while its cash reserves stood at P15.7 billion.   

For next year, ALI is accelerating its expansion, allotting a higher capital budget than this year’s P17 billion.

The company will aggressively expand its shopping centers to bring total gross leasable area to more than one million square meters by the end of 2011. 

Expansion is composed of MarQee Mall in Angeles City with a total of 37,000 square meters of GLA and the Davao Mall which will contribute an additional estimated 94,000 square meters GLA by 2011.   

With control of 52 hectares of land in the Makati Central Business District and another 33 hectares in Bonifacio Global City, ALI is a primary beneficiary of the country’s asset reflation story. 

Over the last five years, ALI has delivered an average total shareholder return on equity of 42 percent per annum.

ALI’s parent firm, Ayala Corp. is one of the country’s oldest conglomerates with diversified operations in real estate and hotels, telecommunications, financial services, water distribution, electronics manufacturing, information technology and automotive dealerships.