Exim Bank Malaysia Said to Start $500 Million Bond Sale

Source From (Bloomberg): http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-24/exim-bank-malaysia-said-to-start-500-million-bond-sale.html

Published: By Elffie Chew - May 24, 2012 11:28 AM GMT+0800

Exim Bank Malaysia, a state-owned export finance company, began marketing as much as $500 million of dollar-denominated bonds in its first global offering, two people familiar with the matter said.
Nomura Holdings Inc., BNP Paribas SA, Malayan Banking Bhd. (MAY) and CIMB Holdings Bhd. were hired to manage the sale, said the people who couldn’t be named as the details are private. The $500 million sale is part of Exim Bank’s $1.5 billion medium- term note program, they said.
The Kuala Lumpur-based financial institution started marketing the bonds in Japan today and will move on to Singapore, Hong Kong and London next week, said the people. Mohd Nasir Johar, Exim Bank’s communications head, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment via mobile phone or e-mail.
Exim Bank is tapping the market to fund its overseas expansion as borrowing costs fall. Yields on Malaysia’s benchmark Islamic bonds due June 2021, one of three outstanding sovereign dollar notes in the Southeast Asian nation, have dropped 40 basis points, or 0.4 percentage point, to 3.9 percent this year, according to data compiled Bloomberg.
The Malaysian lender’s offering comes after Export-Import Bank of Korea sold a record 100 billion yen ($1.3 billion) of Samurai bonds last week.
Exim Bank Malaysia reported net profit of 176.3 million ringgit ($56 million) for 2011 and aims to approve 28 percent more loans this year, the Star newspaper reported today, citing Chief Executive Officer Adissadikin Ali. The bank approved 4.7 billion ringgit of loans last year and plans to expand to the Middle East and North Africa following rising enquiries from Malaysian companies operating in those countries, according to the report - Bloomberg.