Wharf Holdings completes sale of 4 bln yuan panda bonds in China
18/10/2016 03:11
HONG KONG, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-based Wharf Holdings
Ltd's 0004.HK 4 billion yuan ($599.84 million) issuance of
"panda bonds" in China was three times oversubscribed in a sale
that signalled rising interest for onshore yuan-denominated
debt.
Wharf is the first Hong Kong property developer that has
obtained approval to issue panda bonds, or yuan-denominated
bonds sold by foreigners on the mainland, with an aggregate
amount not exceeding 20 billion yuan.
The first tranche of 4 billion yuan three-year medium term
note was oversubscribed by three times, the company said.
Both Wharf and this tranche of the Programme have received
AAA credit rating in the mainland.
The panda bond market kicked off in 2005, but its
development had lagged far behind yuan-denominated bonds sold in
the offshore market, also known as dim sum bonds, until last
year when Chinese issuers switched back to the onshore market to
raise cheaper funds.
Panda bond issuance in the first nine months this year
amounted to 84.2 billion yuan, compared to 89.4 billion for dim
sum bonds, statistics from Bank of China International showed.
Market players believe panda bond issuance is set to exceed
that of dim sum bonds in the coming months as cost for issuers
to raise onshore yuan remains favorable thanks to ample onshore
liquidity.
($1 = 6.6685 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Michelle Chen; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
((michelle.chen@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6587; Reuters
Messaging: min.chen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: CHINA BONDS/PANDA