Apr 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon has sold a 500 million dollar 5-year bond to yield 6.875 percent a year with the investors oversubscribing the issue 7.7 times, sources familiar with the matter said. Books were initially opened with a price guidance of 7.1 percent but the price was later brought down amid strong orders.
Last year Sri Lanka sold a 10-year sovereign bond for 6.25 percent a year.
The 500 million US dollar bond attracted 3.86 billion US dollars of orders making it 7.7 times over-subscribed.
Bank of America, Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings managed the sale.
Moody’s gave the bond ‘B1’ rating with a ‘stable’ outlook. Fitch rated it ‘BB-‘ the same as Sri Lanka’s sovereign rating, citing its ‘quasi-sovereign’ status.
Bank of Ceylon is Sri Lanka’s largest commercial bank in terms of assets and key lender to the state.
Corrected – sovereign bond