S. Korea’s corporate bond issuance up to $15.1b in July

South Korea saw a surge in corporate bond sales in July, with financial companies driving the demand. Corporate bond issuance rose 9.4 per cent to 20.1 trillion won ($15.1 billion) compared to June, according to Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Financial companies led the surge, with their bond issuance soaring 22 per cent to 16.34 trillion won ($12.3 billion). However, asset-backed securities (ABS) issuance saw a sharp decline of 58.2 per cent to 587.2 billion won ($440.3 million).

Industrial companies’ bond issuance decreased by 11 per cent to 3.18 trillion won ($2.4 billion) in July. It’s worth noting that the country’s central bank has maintained its benchmark interest rate at 3.50 per cent since January of last year.

Equity financing, including initial public offerings (IPOs) and rights issuances, totalled 1.51 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in July, representing a 13 per cent decrease from the previous month.

Attribution: Financial Supervisory Service report

Subediting: M. S. Salama