KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) has topped RAM Ratings Services Bhd’s (RAM) league tables in terms of programme size for corporate bonds as at end-September 2018, having arranged RM28.50 billion or 44 per cent of the RM64.58 billion of RAM-rated corporate bonds.
In a statement today, RAM said Public Investment Bank Bhd was second with RM10 billion.
“When it came to the number of RAM-rated corporate bond deals, Maybank Investment Bhd (Maybank IB) took pole position with four deals,” it said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, the rating agency said CIMB Investment Bank Bhd (CIMB IB) was the leader in terms of sukuk programme value, with RM2.95 billion or 31 per cent of RAM-rated sukuk, followed by Maybank IB with RM2.74 billion and RHB Investment Bank Bhd with RM2.73 billion.
“All three banks were joint leaders in number of transactions, having arranged two each. Outstanding corporate bonds in the domestic market amounted to RM648.1 billion as at end-September 2018,” it said.
RAM said for the first nine months of the year, gross issuance of corporate bonds and sukuk, inclusive of quasi-government entities, totalled RM77.2 billion which was about 9.0 per cent lower year-on-year.
“The slower pace was mainly due to less issuance by quasi-government entities. We still expect relatively muted issuance activity from this segment amid the government’s ongoing cost rationalisation,” it said.
Moving forward, RAM anticipates the corporate bond market to chart a steady course through the rest of 2018 with growth expected to be sustained by financial institutions’ additional capital-augmentation initiatives.
“Based on the existing pipeline, we expect gross corporate bond issuance to reach our projected range of RM90 billion-RM100 billion for the year,” it added. — Bernama
