Filinvest Land gets SEC okay to issue P11-B bonds

MANILA, Philippines - Gotinuan-led Filinvest Land Inc. has obtained the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue P11 billion worth of seven-year fixed-rate bonds.

The bonds will be issued in two tranches, the first in June and the balance in the third quarter.

FLI has tapped BDO Capital and Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. as joint issue managers.

The bond issue was assigned a PRS Aaa rating – the highest level on the ratings scale of credit issuer agency PhilRatings.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to partly fund FLI’s P15-billion capital expenditure program this year.

About P5.4 billion has been earmarked for the construction of medium-rise buildings (MRBs) in Metro Manila, Davao and Rizal. Another P3.8 billion has been set aside for the development of properties in Metro Manila, Cavite and Cebu. The rest will be spent for developing subdivisions, acquiring land and building high-rise projects.

FLI is rolling out P14.5 billion worth of projects this year, 20 percent higher than the previous level. These projects translate to over 12,000 units.

New projects include a condotel at Timberland Heights and two new MRB projects within Metro Manila.

Around P2.5 billion of this year’s capex would go to the construction of additional office and retail space.

At Northgate Cyberzone, a BPO office building is currently under construction and will add close to 20,000 square meters of gross leasable area (GLA) in the first half of 2013 to FLI’s current portfolio of over 170,000 square meters of GLA. An additional building is targeted to break ground within the year with a GLA of 13,000 square meters.