Demand brisk for DoubleDragon’s P10.9-B bond sale
DoubleDragon Corp., a listed property firm led by tycoons Edgar Sia II and Tony Tan Caktiong, saw strong investor traction for its P10.9-billion bond offering.
Just on the second day of the offer period, the company said it had already activated its oversubscription option.
The notes are priced to yield 7.7 percent a year and will be listed on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. on Sept. 19. The offering ran until Sept. 15.
According to DoubleDragon, investors had an option to lend a minimum of P50,000.
The notes, which have tenors of three and a half years and five and a half years, are part of a bond program that the Securities and Exchange Commission approved in 2024.
Sought for his reaction, Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), said the robust reception for the offering did not come as a surprise since the group “is backed by principals/founders that have global companies/brands.”
“[It] also has a high credit rating assigned,” he added.
The company tapped RCBC and Unicapital as joint lead underwriters and the Land Bank of the Philippines as selling agent.
DoubleDragon earlier said the retail bond offer would “further increase its cash position and further strengthen its balance sheet.”
Philippine Rating Services Corp. had assigned an issue credit rating of PRS Aaa to the bond issuance, entailing that DoubleDragon had minimal credit risk and that it had a “very strong capacity” to meet its financial commitments.
In the first six months, the company’s bottom line surged by 53.9 percent to P1.54 billion, as sales revenues from new projects here and abroad provided the needed boost.
Revenues soared by 58.3 percent to P6.9 billion, driven by higher real estate sales.
Likewise, the developer’s interest income ballooned by 264.6 percent to P107.1 million on gains from time deposits.
General and administrative expenses, meanwhile, rose by 44.1 percent during the quarter to P676.67 million.
