Aspial Corporation rolls out second retail bond offer within a year

SINGAPORE - Aspial Corporation will offer its second retail bond in less than a year.

The four-year, S$75 million issuance pays annual interest of 5.3 per cent, one of the highest rates rolled out here in years.

Aspial's latest issuance will set aside S$50 million for public offer, with a minimum investment of S$2,000 per application. A S$25 million placement tranche - for institutional investors - will require at least S$100,000 per application.

The offer opens at 9am Wednesday and closes at 12 noon on March 30. Aspial can expand the issue size to a maximum of S$200 million if the offer is over-subscribed.

A 5.3 per cent annual payout, or coupon rate, is step up from Aspial's first issuance in August last year, when the jeweller and property firm rolled out a five-year, S$150 million issuance with a 5.25 per cent coupon rate.

Both coupon rates sit at the very top of the current crop of Singdollar retail corporate bonds.

"The return is certainly very attractive, as is usual with non-investment grade offering," CMC Markets analyst Margaret Yang said, referring to the fact that Aspial is not credit-rated. "Individual investors will have to decide based on their risk appetite. But for a company to hit the retail bond market now makes sense, given that the interest rate uncertainties have dropped after the Federal Reserve said only two rate hikes are on the cards this year."

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