SBI raises $500 m from bond sale

Mumbai, January 17 

The State Bank of India today raised $500 million through an international bond sale of five-year bonds at coupon of 3.306 per cent per annum and getting oversubscribed three times.

“The pricing offers a spread of 145 basis points over the five-year US treasury, which is equivalent to a price of 99.744 per cent yielding 3.306 per cent per annum,” SBI said in a note late evening after successfully closing the issue through its London branch.

The order book came in at $1.5 billion for an offer of $500 million, the SBI said, adding the issue has been rated at investment grade by all three big rating agencies.

The offering which will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, will be denominated in US dollars, and will bear fixed interest of 3.25 per cent per annum with interest payable semi-annually in arrears. The bonds will mature on January 24, 2022, the bank said, adding the just concluded bond sale is part of its $10-billion medium term note programme which has already raised $3.5 billion.

“The transaction saw strong interest from investors across geographies with an order book in excess of $1.5 billion across 170 accounts, underscoring SBI’s strong credit profile and its position as the nation's largest bank,” the bank said.

SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said, “We are pleased to see the robust demand for our transaction and the strong perception of our credit by the international investor community.” "The execution process was swift and ensured a strong momentum to our transaction. The lead managers have provided us with the right pricing strategy," she said. — PTI