EastWest Bank to issue P5-B LTNCDs

MANILA, Philippines - East West Banking Corp. will raise additional funds through the issuance of P5 billion worth of long-term debt papers, the bank told the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) approved on Thursday EastWest Bank’s application to issue long-term negotiable certificates of deposits (LTNCDs).

The bank said the issue size would be up to P5 billion, with minimum deposits of P50,000 and in increments of P10,000.

The LTNCDs, it said, will carry a minimum maturity of five years and one day, up to a maximum of five years and six months from issue date.

The issue date, on the other hand, will be subject to the agreement between EastWest Bank and its arranger, Unicapital Inc.

Meanwhile, interest is on a fixed-rate basis subject to prevailing market conditions.

EastWest Bank, which started as commercial bank on Aug. 1, 1994, is a subsidiary of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), a publicly-listed holding company of the Filinvest Group that evolved from a consumer business founded by Andrew L. Gotianun Sr. in 1955.

FDC is one of the country’s premier conglomerates, with business interests in real estate, banking, sugar, hospitality and tourism, and power-generation.

Over the years, EastWest Bank has successfully capitalized on the financial strength and synergy from the business organizations under the Filinvest Group.

Recently, the BSP also confirmed the universal banking license of EastWest.

Armed with a new mandate, the bank plans to pursue its aggressive expansion program by putting up 100 new branches this year and another 100 by 2013. The bank currently has 150 branches nationwide.

By 2014, EastWest Bank is eyeing a nationwide network of 350 branches, the fifth largest in terms of network. Most of the new branches will be located in Manila, Makati, Pasig, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Pasay, San Juan and Parañaque.

The bank is also projecting more than 20 percent growth in loans. It is presently the sixth largest credit card issuer and also the sixth largest in auto loans.