Пресс-центр

Euromoney

Russians dine on dim sum as renminbi market deepens. Russian Standard Bank launched a debut dim sum bond at the end of last week, the third deal from the country in just two weeks. The success of the deal was down to an investor base increasingly comfortable with lower-rated foreign issuers and bankers hope it will prove to other single-B borrowers that there is plenty of demand for them in the market. The borrower priced a Rmb500m ($79m) February 2015 deal at par to yield 8% on Thursday. The bond’s initial guidance was set at the same area, but as it was the first single-B rated deal from a non-Chinese name pushing pricing down further was not a realistic option, said a debt banker on the deal. The key to this deal, they said, was making sure investors were happy to move down the credit curve. It shows just how much demand there is and how deep the market has become that a single-B first time issuer name can price a solid deal,- said one. Russian Standard decided it would tap the dim sum market last December, but only finished a two-day roadshow in Hong Kong and Singapore last week. Diversification, decent demand from Asian private banks for its debt and the overall funding cost made the currency an attractive option, a Russian Standard spokesman told EuroWeek Asia. The borrower will swap the proceeds into roubles, and the offshore renminbi market gave it cheaper that what it could have achieved either domestically or in dollars, said another debt banker on the deal. An improvement in the basis swap also helped draw Russian peer VTB back to market earlier in the month, said the banker. Along with VTB and Russian Agricultural Bank, Russian Standard is the third issuer from the country to launch dim sum deal this year. The success of the earlier deals gave Russian Standard confidence it would be well received, said spokesman. “The trio of transactions should also prompt other international issuers to follow”, said bankers. “There hasn’t been a lot of dim sum issuance and investors are calling for more supply”, said one. Issuers like VTB and New World China Land have demonstrated just how much their yields have dropped since debuting last year and this makes the market look more and more attractive for issuers. Russian Standard is also keen to return to renminbi if its debut performs well, said the spokesman. The bonds were trading at just above par on Friday afternoon. Asian investors took 71% of the deal and others investors 29%. Private banks bought 56%, fund and asset managers took 36%, corporations were allocated 5% and others the remaining 3%. The bonds are rated Ba3/B+/B+ by Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. The bonds are expected to receive the same ratings.