Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 19 / Trend, E. Ismayilov /
SOCAR can again issue Eurobonds in 2014, SOCAR Vice President for Economic Affairs Suleyman Gasimov told the media on Tuesday. He is participating in a meeting with the Caspian- European Integration Business Club (CEIBC) member-companies. The topic of the meeting is "Prospects of economic cooperation with CEIBC member-companies ".
According to him, the placement of bonds is currently inexpedient because investors practically placed their portfolios.
"It is necessary to prepare for this process for the bond issue," he said. "First of all, SOCAR will meet with investors in late 2013 regarding the last issue of Eurobonds ($1 billion with a maturing period in 2023) and inform them of the company's position. Afterwards, SOCAR must examine the investors' interest and requirements in the new issue."
Only afterwards, one can talk about the expediency of entering the international capital markets at the beginning of the year when the investors begin placing their portfolios.
"While issuing the bonds, SOCAR hopes for their long term - 30 years," he said. "SOCAR has already assessed and delivered the necessary data to Standard & Poors and Moody's rating agencies to improve the company's rating."
SOCAR placed its debut Eurobond issue worth $500 million in February 2012.
The mandate for the issue of the company's securities this year was granted in late February, and their two-day presentation was held in London on March 4-5.
The initial yield of ten-year bonds (rating at Ba1/BB + / BBB-) was determined at 4.9 percent under the guidance of Deutsche Bank.
This initial level has been lowered to 4.80 percent, and the final level totals 4.75 percent.
The total volume of bids exceeded the volume of Eurobonds threefold. The bids worth $3 billion were delivered by 245 investors.
From a geographical point of view, the classification is as follows: 41 percent of Eurobonds were purchased by investors from Europe, 32 percent - from the United Kingdom, 25 percent - from the U.S., 2 percent - by other investors. By type: 87 percent of Eurobonds were purchased by asset management companies, 5 percent - by banks and retail investors, 4 percent - by hedge funds, 3 percent - by insurance and pension funds, and 1 percent - by others.
