Proceeds raised by Singapore bond offerings down 41.7% in Q2 '17

PRIMARY bond offerings from Singapore-domiciled issuers raised US$4.5 billion in proceeds in the second quarter of 2017, down 41.7 per cent from a year ago.

According to the latest Singapore Debt Capital Markets (DCM) Review published by Thomson Reuters, Singapore issuers raised US$3.3 billion from tapping the US-dollar bond market, a 5.8 per cent increase in proceeds compared to the same period last year.

Bond proceeds for the year-to-date came up to US$12.8 billion, a 23.2 per cent decline from the year-ago period. Singaporean companies from the financial sector raised US$7.9 billion in bond proceeds, down 19 per cent from the year before.

The financial sector captured the largest share (61.8 per cent) of the total bond proceeds issued by Singapore borrowers in 2017 to-date. This is followed by the real estate sector, with 9.9 per cent market share and US$1.3 billion in bond proceeds.

UOB is currently the most active issuer and borrower in terms of bond proceeds this year, capturing a 13.9 per cent market share worth US$1.8 billion (including issuance from subsidiaries).

The Singapore DCM Review was made available on Thursday.