Singapore bond issuance slumps 45.8% to US$4.5b

UOB rose as the most active borrower in terms of bond proceeds.

Primary bond offerings from Singapore-domiciled issuers reached US$12.8b so far this year, a 23.2% decline in proceeds after a strong period during the first half of 2016, as local companies tapped both domestic and offshore bond markets to raise funds, data from Thomson Reuters said.

For the second quarter of the year, proceeds were down by 45.8% from the first quarter and 41.7% lower from last year.

"Singapore issuers tapped the US-dollar bond market and raised US$3.3b, up 5.8% in proceeds compared to the same period last year. Notably, perpetual bonds issued by Singaporean companies totaled US$1.4b to date, up 49.3% from the comparative period in 2016," Thomson Reuters said.

Out of all the banks, the United Overseas Bank (UOB) is currently the most active issuer/borrower in terms of bond proceeds so far this year, capturing 13.9% market share worth US$1.8b.

Meanwhile, DBS Group Holdings currently leads the Singapore-issued bonds underwriting this year with related proceeds of US$3.0b, and accounts for 23.2% of the market share. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and HSBC Holdings rounded out the top three with 11.9% and 9.3% market share, respectively.

DBS Group booked an estimated US$12.9m in fee revenues, and accounted for 23.7% of Singapore’s bond fee pool. Imputed underwriting fees from bond issuance by Singaporean companies totaled US$54.5m, down 33.8% from the first half of 2016.