Bright Kindle to raise capital by P500M

MANILA, Philippines - Bright Kindle Resources & Investments Inc., formerly Bankard Inc., will raise its authorized capital stock by P500 million to finance its future investment plans, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The company said its board has approved the increase in capital to P1.65 billion from P1.1 billion.

This move will allow Bright Kindle to issue an additional one billion common shares with a par value of 55 centavos per share.

Proceeds from the capital raising scheme would be used to fund its investment plans, projects or operations, it said.

Late last year, Philippine Business Bank Inc., the financial arm of the Yao Group of Companies,

purchased 89-percent stake of Bankard, formerly-owned by the Yuchengcos’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).

After the transfer of all of its assets and liabilities, including its credit card operations, Bankard changed its coporate name to Bright Kindle Resources and Investments Inc. to function as an investment house.

Bankard is a pioneer in the credit card industry with 25 years of experience. It was originally organized by Philippine Commercial International Bank (PCIBank on December 1981 as the Philippine Commercial Credit Card Inc. (PCCCI) to operate a domestic credit card operation.

It started full commercial operations in June 1982. PCCCI’s affiliation with PCIBank gave it the distinction of being the first credit card in the Philippines issued by a commercial bank. After 10 years, PCCCI changed its name to Bankard Inc.

In 1991, PCIBank was granted a license by MasterCard International to issue credit cards in the Philippines accepted by the MasterCard network of affiliated banks and establishments worldwide.

In March 1995, Bankard went public, becoming the first credit card company to be listed in the Philippines, and only the second to achieve this distinction in the Asia-Pacific region.