Singapore bonds hit five-year high at $40.28b

Local companies tapped both domestic and offshore bond markets to raise funds.

Primary bond offerings from Singapore hit a five-year high and rose 18.9% YoY to $40.28b (US$29.9b) so far this year, as local companies tapped both domestic and offshore bond markets to raise funds.

According to Thomson Reuters data, this is the highest-ever annual period for Singapore bond offerings in terms of proceeds since the annual record high of $41.35b (US$30.7b) in 2012.

Bond proceeds in the fourth quarter surged 259.5% YoY from $2.16b (US$1.6b) to $7.81b (US$5.8b).

US dollar-denominated bonds issued by Singaporean companies rose 10.5% YoY to $11b (US$8.2b), the highest since 2012.

Perpetual bonds issued by Singaporean companies totalled $4.71b (US$3.5b) to date, up 61.4% from 2016, as the number of perpetual bonds more than tripled.

Here's more from Thomson Reuters:

United Overseas Bank (UOB)’s US$650m US dollar-denominated Additional Tier 1 perpetual offering is the biggest bond issuance during the fourth quarter of 2017.

UOB’s dual-currency covered bond (in US$ and EUR) worth US$1.02b remains the biggest Singapore bond issuance so far this year.

Meanwhile, DBS Group Holdings is currently the most active issuer in terms of bond proceeds this year, capturing 16.3% market share worth US$4.9b (including the issuance from subsidiaries).

DBS Group Holdings currently leads the Singapore-issued bonds underwriting this year with related proceeds of US$6.2b and accounts for 20.6% of the market share.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and HSBC Holdings rounded out the top three with 10.8% and 7.9% market share, respectively. According to Thomson Reuters,

DBS Group booked an estimated US$31.6m in fee revenues and accounted for 23.1% of Singapore’s bond fee pool.

Underwriting fees from Singapore bond issuance totalled US$136.5m, a 17.6% increase from 2016.

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