Filinvest Land postpones P3-B bond issue

Filinvest Land, Inc. has deferred its P3-billion retail bond issue and will instead borrow from banks, which it said was cheaper for the company. "In addition, the company's internal cash generation is very strong, thus reducing the need for such debt funding at this time," the company told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The Gotianun-led property firm was supposed to float P3 billion worth of fixed-rate five-year retail bonds this quarter, which was given the highest rating by local debt watcher Philippine Rating Services Corp. The company had planned to raise the funds for its short-term capital requirements through fixed-rate, five-year bonds between January and March 2010. The borrowing was supposed to be used to fund its projects and other expenses until 2011. Filinvest Land was supposed to list the debt paper on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. for trading in the secondary market. "The board decided that under the current financial scenario, it is cheaper for the company to finance its projects by drawing on its bank lines and by rediscounting part of its P6-billion unrediscounted receivables," it said. The firm did not set a new date for the bond issue. Last November, Filinvest Land raised P5 billion worth of retail bonds to finance various mass housing projects under the company's socialized, affordable and middle-income segments. The bonds were supposedly three times oversubscribed. — NPA, GMANews.TV