Good response to Exim Bank's US$500m bonds

Source From (Business Times): http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/8EXIM/Article/

Published: Saturday June 9, 2012

EXPORT-IMPORT Bank of Malaysia Bhd (Exim Bank) has announced the successful offering of its inaugural US$500 million (RM1.59 billion), 5.5-year fixed rate notes, issued pursuant to its US$1.5 billion (RM4.77 billion) multicurrency medium-term note programme.

In a statement yesterday, it said the notes are priced at T+218bps following an accelerated bookbuilding process at a yield of 2.895 per cent, the lowest yield ever achieved by a Malaysian issuer in a comparable issuance.

The deal attracted interest from a diverse group of domestic and international investors with a strong order book of approximately US$3 billion from more than 180 investors.

The bank said the proceeds from this bond would be used to finance its general corporate purposes.

The deal was priced at the tighter end of the revised price guidance considering its credit ratings.

"The ratings are on par with Malaysian sovereign ratings, by virtue of the strong government ownership and support by the Malaysian government," it said.

The "A-" and "A3" ratings by Fitch Ratings and Moody's respectively, also reflect its strong capitalisation ratios, easy access to liquidity and its important policy role. Bernama