Asia Pacific

Malaysian state-owned investment company Khazanah Nasional was planning to close a Rmb300m-Rmb500m Islamic bond as EuroWeek Asia went to press. It had relaunched the deal after turning its back on the market last month. It was the first time any company had attempted to sell a sukuk in the offshore renminbi market.

Lloyds TSB made its debut in the offshore renminbi market this week, selling a Rmb105m ($16.4m) two year deal.

As risk aversion mounts, high-yield dim sum bonds were being sold off in recent weeks, but Taiwanese brokerage SinoPac decided it was a good time to bargain hunt.

Sinotrans Shipping managed to defy the tough market to sell a three-year Rmb2.6 billion dim sum bond on Tuesday (October 4), giving many issuers a boost in confidence.

Sinotrans Shipping found enough demand to close a Rmb2.6bn ($407.8m) offshore renminbi bond this week, following the success of Beijing Enterprises Water last week. But the dim sum market has become a dire place to do business, and several large investors did not even consider either issue.

Beijing Enterprises Water closed a tap to its outstanding dim sum bonds at the end of last week, navigating a choppy secondary market that pushed the notes down by several points during bookbuilding.

China’s Dalian Port (PDA) is planning to make its debut in the offshore renminbi market, but will have to overcome a market that has become increasingly difficult over the last few weeks.

Hong Kong-listed Beijing Enterprises Water (BEW) approached investors this week with a plan to re-open a pair of offshore renminbi bonds it sold earlier this year, shrugging off the volatility that has firmly shut the dollar bond market. But bankers complain it is getting harder and harder to close deals.