KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 ― Citibank Malaysia (Citi) has raised US$3 billion (RM12.7 billion) in 2017 from international debt capital markets for Malaysian companies.

In a statement today, the bank said the strong response came from global investors, which has led to a final order book of over US$3.8 billion, and resulted in a final pricing which was 45 basis points lower than the initial price guidance of 5.25 per cent. 

The allocation of bond issuance was spread out to asset management companies and financial institutions across Asia and Europe, with total participation reaching 240 accounts. 

"The large foreign investor interest in this issuance out of Malaysia reflects the amount of liquidity and the strong demand for Malaysian credit from global investors" said Chief Executive Officer Lee Lung Nien. 

The transaction had underlined the potential for more Malaysian companies to raise cost effective financing form international capital markets, he added. 

In October, Citibank acted as a joint book runner for the successful transaction of US$400 million of non-investment grade bond priced by Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd. 

Malaysia is among Citibank's largest market in Asean while Citibank's Asia Pacific region continued to be the largest contributor to revenue and net income outside of North America. 

Citi is the leading global bank with 200 million customer accounts from 160 countries. The bank has become the leading underwriter for international bond issuance from Malaysia this year. ― Bernama