THE BOARD of property developer DoubleDragon Corp. has approved a planned retail bond issuance of up to P10 billion as part of the company’s fundraising initiatives.
The proposed bond offering was approved by the company’s board on June 7, DoubleDragon said in a statement to the stock exchange on Monday.
DoubleDragon said the planned retail bond issuance has secured a “PRS Aaa” credit rating from the Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings).
The rating is the highest rating awarded by PhilRatings, which are given to obligations that are “of the highest quality with minimal credit risk and the issuing company’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligations is extremely strong.”
DoubleDragon said its total equity is set to breach P100 billion for the first time in 2024.
It added that the upcoming listing of its hotel subsidiary Hotel 101 Global Pte. Ltd. on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in the United States will “further strengthen” the company’s balance sheet.
Hotel101 will list on the NASDAQ via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company JVSPAC Acquisition Corp. The merger brought Hotel101’s equity value to over $2.3 billion.
The combined entity will be listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “HBNB.”
“DoubleDragon’s string of titled investment properties strategically planted in prime locations spread out in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and Overseas serves as its strong underlying solid foundation,” the company said.
Hotel101 is targeting to have one million rooms across over 100 countries.
It seeks to have presence in 25 countries by 2026. These include Philippines, Japan, Spain, United States, United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Germany, France, and Saudi Arabia.
The hotel operator recently started development on a 680-room hotel in Madrid, Spain. It is also building a 482-room hotel in Hokkaido, Japan.
For 2023, DoubleDragon saw a 23.3% increase in its net income to P15.93 billion as revenue improved by 75% to P24.74 billion.
DoubleDragon shares fell by 4.01% or 50 centavos to P11.98 apiece on Monday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
