China Shipping plans US dollar bond amid low rates
China Shipping Group, the mainland's second-biggest shipping company by assets, is considering selling bonds denominated in US dollars for the first time as borrowing costs in Asia drop to a more than one-month low.
China Shipping Group, the mainland's second-biggest shipping company by assets, is considering selling bonds denominated in US dollars for the first time as borrowing costs in Asia drop to a more than one-month low.
The Shanghai-based firm, which provides container, tanker and freight transport services, will meet fixed-income investors from today, a source said.
Average yields for the region's US dollar notes fell to 5.25 per cent on Monday, the least since December 12, JP Morgan Chase indices show. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields dropped to a more than one-month low of 2.83 per cent the same day after US payrolls rose less than forecast last month, easing concerns that stimulus cuts may be accelerated.
Asian dollar bond sales total US$15.1 billion so far this year, compared with US$10 billion in the same period last year, making it the busiest start to a year on record according to data going back to 1999.
"Issuance is going to be strong in the window leading up to Chinese New Year," said Mark Reade, a Hong Kong-based desk analyst at Mizuho Securities Asia. "That's especially the case now Treasury yields are lower than at the start of the year."
China Shipping Group will meet bond investors in Hong Kong, Singapore and London, the source said.
