S. Korea's corporate bond sale logs double-digit fall in May

Alsharq Tribune-AFP 

South Korea's corporate bond sale logged a double-digit fall last month owing to lower funding demand from both industrial and financial companies, financial watchdog data showed Monday.

The issuance of corporate bonds dropped 35.9 percent over the month to 19.51 trillion won (14.4 billion U.S. dollars) in May after growing in double figures in the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Bonds, sold by industrial companies, ran to 2.15 trillion won in May, down 75.8 percent compared to the prior month.

Financial companies-issued bonds tumbled 24.2 percent to 15.13 trillion won, while the issuance of asset-backed securities jumped 40.7 percent to 2.22 trillion won last month.

The country's central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in February and May each to 2.50 percent after cutting it by the same basis points in October and November last year.

Equity financing, including initial public offering and rights issuance, amounted to 1.82 trillion won in May, up 386.5 percent from a month earlier. (1 won equals 0.00074 USD)