Borrowing costs depress corporate bond sales

Home > Business > Finance

print dictionary print

Borrowing costs depress corporate bond sales

Korea’s corporate bond sales this month have plunged to about a tenth of offerings a year ago, as borrowing costs near a 10-month high hamper growth prospects of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Sales total 322 billion won ($286 million) since June 30 versus 3.01 trillion won a year earlier and 1.25 trillion won last month. Doosan Engineering & Construction leads expected sales this week of 182 billion won, compared with a weekly average this year of about 588 billion won, data show.

Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo held benchmark rates unchanged for a second straight month last week as he weighs signs of a global economic recovery against the need to curb spiraling yields. Corporate note sales slid to the least since September 2008 last quarter, mirroring a rout in global markets after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled that the central bank’s bond-buying program could be tapered as early as this year.

“Sales may remain in the doldrums for a while,” said Min Dong-won, a credit analyst at Hyundai Securities. “Market sentiment remains far from any recovery and is weighed down by concerns over external risks that Korea can’t control such as the Fed tapering stimulus and China’s slowdown.” China is Korea’s biggest trading partner.

Average yields on three-year corporate notes rated AA- were unchanged this week at 3.33 percent as of July 18, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. The rate touched 3.48 percent on June 24, the highest since August 2012.

The country’s Financial Services Commission unveiled on July 8 a plan to sell so-called primary-collateralized bond obligations, or PCBO, to bolster funding for companies facing a financing squeeze as economic growth slows.

Doosan Engineering & Construction, a Seoul-based provider of civil engineering and architectural services, sold 100 billion won of 7.8 percent two-year notes on July 1. The company, part-owned by Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, will use the proceeds mostly for refinancing, said Harry Jun, general manager in the investor relations department.

“We issued the bonds just in case the capital squeeze worsens, even though we have enough cash for refinancing,” Jun said. “Yields are likely to stay at current levels for the time being since the government is issuing primary-collateralized bond obligations and the Bank of Korea is keeping rates steady.”

AJ Rent A Car, an auto rental company, issued 32 billion won of 3.6 percent notes due 2015 on July 15, the data show. It plans to use the money for working capital, according to a July 16 regulatory filing.

While the FSC’s plan to provide refinancing support to spur issuance may offer “a short-term boost, sentiment still remains too low for companies to borrow by simply relying on the possibility of government aid,” Hyundai Securities’ Min said.

The BOK’s Kim and his board kept the seven-day repurchase rate at 2.5 percent on July 11. Kim afterward told reporters the central bank sees gross domestic product rising 4 percent in 2014, up from an April projection of 3.8 percent. The BOK raised its 2013 GDP forecast to a gain of 2.8

Three-year sovereign note yields rose to 3.12 percent on June 24, the highest since last July, and were at 2.85 percent on July 18, Bloomberg data show. The extra yield investors demand to own Korean company notes over similar-maturity government debt has narrowed to 48 basis points from 59 basis points a year ago.

Korea’s won has weakened 5.5 percent against the greenback this year.

Moorim Paper, a paper maker, is expected to price 30 billion won of notes this week, data on preliminary sales compiled by Bloomberg show. Woori Finance Holdings is also planning a 50 billion won-bond sale later this month, the data show.

Korea international bond sales rose to $1.03 billion this month-to-date from $130 million the same period of June.

The one-year rate to swap won loans for dollars, a gauge of the availability of dollar funding, was at 1.63 percent yesterday, after touching 1.38 percent on June 24, the lowest since October 2011.

Bloomberg
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)