Property giant Ayala Land Inc. announced Wednesday its board has approved a plan to issue another set of "homestarter" bonds worth up to P504 million.

Ayala Land senior vice president and chief finance officer Jaime Ysmael told the Philippine Stock Exchange that they will issue an initial P252 million worth of bonds, with an oversubscription of up to P108 million. The first tranche will total P360 million.

The issuance is subject to the registration requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The bonds will be priced at 100 percent of face value and will mature three years from initial issue date. They will be sold through a general public offering to retain investors," noted Ysmael.

Ayala Land has appointed BPI Capital Corp. as issue manager and underwriter for the bond offer.

The property developer first launched the so-called homestarter bonds in February 2006 to allow its prospective buyers to save for the down payments on their dream homes.

Ayala Land customers can invest P5,000 to P25,000 a month for three years and their investments will earn a non-compounding interest of 5 percent a year.

The customers will also be paid a bonus credit amounting to 10 percent of the total principal they invested. This bonus will be added to their down payments.

Ayala Land said proceeds of its new bond offer will be partly used for general corporate purposes.