DBS Group Holdings
DBS Group Holdings has priced US$750 million (S$1 billion) of three-year senior unsecured notes at a coupon of 2.85 per cent under its US$30 billion global medium-term note programme, it announced yesterday.
The notes, which are sold at 99.946 per cent of the principal amount, will mature on April 16, 2022, according to a term sheet. The issue yield is 2.869 per cent.
The order book for the deal has recorded more than US$2.2 billion from 140 accounts. According to DBS, about 47 per cent of the offering went to North America investors. Asia-Pacific investors took 39 per cent, while the remaining 14 per cent went to investors from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Fund managers represented 50 per cent of the demand, followed by insurance and pension funds with 20 per cent. Commercial banks, official institutes and private banks took up 18 per cent, 8 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.
Saudi Aramco
NEW YORK • Saudi Aramco is planning to borrow US$12 billion (S$16.2 billion) in its debut bond sale as the oil giant pulls off one of the most oversubscribed debt deals of all time.
Sources said investor orders for the dollar bonds reached an excess of US$100 billion at the peak on Tuesday.
That demand will allow Aramco to pay less for its debt than the Saudi government – a rare development for a state-owned entity, underscoring the financial strength of the world’s most profitable company.
It marks a comeback for Saudi Arabia, which was shunned by Wall Street and international investors last year after the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
BLOOMBERG
Tesco
LONDON • Supermarket group Tesco reported a better-than-expected 34 per cent rise in full-year operating profit and hiked its dividend yesterday, cementing the recovery of Britain’s biggest retailer under boss Dave Lewis.
Tesco, currently celebrating its 100th year, is being rebuilt by the former Unilever executive following a 2014 accounting scandal that capped a dramatic downturn in its fortunes.
It posted operating profit of £2.2 billion (S$3.9 billion) for the year ended Feb 23, ahead of analyst forecasts of £2.1 billion, and up from £1.6 billion in 2017-18. Group sales rose 11.5 per cent to £56.9 billion and Tesco recorded its 13th quarter of like-for-like sales growth in the UK, with a 1.7 per cent uptick in the final quarter.
It declared a dividend of 5.77 pence per share, up 92 per cent.
REUTERS