No respite for South Korea's corporate bond issuers

Seoul

SOARING bond yields in defiance of two Bank of Korea interest rate cuts earlier this year have dashed any hope of the country's corporate bond market being a source of cheaper financing, just as companies are in desperate need of funds.

Investors are demanding higher premiums as South Korea's industrial sector plumbs new lows. Three shipbuilders - the world's largest - posted a combined loss of 4.75 trillion won (S$5.8 billion) in the quarter ended September, hit by an extended slump in the global economy.