Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) on Tuesday said it will fully redeem the outstanding series B of its fixed-rate retail bonds issued in 2015, a year ahead of its 2022 maturity schedule.
As the company is exercising its early redemption option, AEV will prepay the 2015 series B bonds for P8.467 billion at an early redemption price of 100.5 percent of its face value on August 6.
“The prepayment of the bonds is part of our continuing efforts to reduce costs and further improve profitability for all of our stakeholders,” the company’s CFO Manuel Lozano said.
The said debt paper was listed on the Philippine Dealing Exchange Corp. on August 6, 2015 for secondary market trading.
The 2015 series B bonds were part of the first tranche of AEV’s P25 billion debt securities program, issued in three series–series A, with a fixed interest rate of 4.4722 percent per year, which matured in 2020; the series B seven-year bonds, with a fixed interest rate of 5.0056 percent, which will mature in 2022; and the series C 12-year bonds, with a fixed interest rate of 6.0169 percent, which will mature in 2027.
The 2015 fund raising was crucial for AEV’s continued overall growth as it include planned acquisitions and further investments. Majority of the proceeds was used to finance its cement venture with the acquisition of Lafarge’s cement manufacturing assets in the Philippines, through a joint venture with CRH Plc.
AEV said it is coordinating with both BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp. and the Philippine Depository and Trust Corp., the registrar and paying agent of the 2015 series B Bonds, for the corresponding notices and computation of the amounts due to the bondholders of the 2015 series B Bonds.
Refinancing maturing debt and prepaying existing higher-cost debt will be an ongoing theme for AEV this year, the company said.