Bangkok--29 May--HSBC
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), one of the leading banks in Australia, has successfully completed the book-building exercise for its debut Thai Baht bonds — THB 4 billion (USD 116 million) with tenor of 4- and 7-years. HSBC is the Sole Bookrunner and Sole Lead Manager of this transaction. The success of this transaction demonstrates CBA’s strength as an issuer and HSBC's strong global debt capital markets platform in assisting its clients to successfully reach new emerging local currency bond market.
CBA (Aa1/ AA/ AA by Moody’s/ S&P/ Fitch) is one of two foreign issuers which obtained permission from the Thai Ministry of Finance to issue Baht-denominated bonds in the February 2009 round of approvals.
With CBA’s strong credit and solid financial position, its debut Thai Baht bonds were well-received by investors who are looking for high quality credit paper. The bonds were split equally into 2 tranches: 4-year and 7-year tenors with an issue amount of Thai Baht 2.0 billion each. The coupons for the 4-year and 7-year tranches were 3.93% pa and 4.80% pa, respectively, implying spreads of 140 bps and 158 bps over comparable government yields on the bookbuilding dates. Those spreads were considered to be very tight.
CBA’s bonds not only mark the first issue by an Australian issuer into the Thai Baht bond market, but also reopened it for foreign issuers after it shut down in September 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis. "We are delighted with this transaction for a number of reasons. It's great to be the first Australian issuer to access the Thai Baht bond market. Very importantly, it has broadened our investor base and provided a competitive cost of funds without the support of the Australian Government guarantee", said John te Wechel, General Manager — Group Funding, Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Media enquiries to:
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia HSBC
Australia
John te Wechel Tel: +612-9118-1335 Australia
Andrew Duncan Tel: +612-9255-2345
Kate Epworth Tel: +612-9006-5682
Hong Kong
Alexander Hayes-Griffin Tel: +852-822-4506
Sean Henderson Tel: +852-2822-3071
Annie Cheng Tel: +852-2822-4938
Thailand
Prakob Phiencharoen Tel: +662-614-4869
Salinla Seehapan Tel: +662-614-4608
Media enquiries to Varanandha Sutthapreeda on 0-2614-4609 or Savittree Muadmuang on 0-2614-4606.
Notes to editors:
1. HSBC in Thailand
HSBC was established as the first commercial bank in Thailand in 1888. With access to global expertise and enriched local knowledge, HSBC in Thailand provides a full range of financial services including global, commercial and institutional banking, global markets, securities services, trade and supply chain, payment and cash management services to corporate customers; personal financial services and credit cards to a growing retail customer base in Thailand. HSBC is globally recognised for its high service standards, ethical practices and full commitment to corporate social responsibilities to benefit the local economy.
2. HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 9,500 offices in 86 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,527 billion at 31 December 2008, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as ‘the world’s local bank’.