Chart of the Day: Singapore borrowers tapped USD bond market in 1Q15, raised USD1.4b in proceeds

It’s a 32.1% growth compared to 1Q14.

Primary bond offerings from Singapore-domiciled issuers reached US$5.43 billion so far this year, and remained almost unchanged with only a 1.6% increase from the first quarter of 2014, as local companies tapped both domestic and offshore bond markets to raise funds.

According to a report by Thomson Reuters, Singapore borrowers tapped the US-dollar bond market and raised US$1.4 billion in proceeds, a 32.1% growth in proceeds compared to the first quarter of 2014.

Thomson Reuters adds that HSBC Holdings currently leads the Singapore-issued bonds underwriting this year and captured 24.1% market share, with related proceeds of US$1.3 billion, up 178.2% over a year ago.

OCBC Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch round up the top three with 12.9% and 9.2% market share, respectively.

According to estimates from Thomson Reuters/Freeman Consulting Co., OCBC Bank booked an estimated US$17.3 million in fee revenues, a 44.8% increase from the comparable period last year, and accounted for 17.5% of Singapore’s bond fee pool. Imputed underwriting fees from bond issuance by Singaporean companies increased 7.6% from the same period in 2014.