À̹ÌÁö È®´ë Lotte Foods Co. was able to stretch debt offering at a better borrowing rate than it expected as it was lucky to be the first recipient of a 20-trillion-won ($16.3 billion) bond purchase program as a part of state-backed virus relief measure.
Lotte Foods on Monday received doubled bids for its 70 billion won in new three-year unsecured papers. As result, it was able to scale up the AA0 debt offering to 100 billion won at a coupon of 30 basis points above the market rate, more favorable than its desired spread of 40 basis points.
The AA0-rated three-year unsecured corporate bond yield yielded 1.662 percent last week.
The underwriters are Shinhan Investment Corp., Samsung Securities Co., NH Investment & Securities Co.
Pension funds according to their commitment to state-packaged bond stabilization fund placed orders exceeding 20 billion won.
The government created the fund worth 20 trillion won to bolster liquidity and stop credit crunch in debt financing market. Other public funds also took part.
¡°Lotte Foods has a strong credit standing to make it as an attractive investment,¡± said a market expert, adding that it is important for state investors to help the company sustain its food-making business for the local market amid the virus outbreak.
But whether Lotte Foods¡¯s bond issue could whet demand in the money market remains to be seen as the liquidity crunch and pandemic scare still looms over the debt market.
By Kim Gyu-sik, Kang Woo-seok, and Cho Jeehyun
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