Reliance Industries Bond Tap Highlights Evolving Role Of Asian Banks

Reliance Industries Ltd.'s (500325.BY) debt offering overnight is the latest in a series of bond taps by Asian firms since the start of the year, and highlights the fact that the region's banks aren't in a position to provide funding as generously as they did.

The energy and materials giant--India's largest company by market value--sold a $500 million tap of its 2022 dollar bond at 101.018 to yield 5.267%, attracting investor orders worth US$3.73 billion, and taking the total size of the bond to US$1.5 billion.

Early afternoon in Asia Friday, the bond was quoted around 323-328 basis points over comparable Treasurys, steady from the spread of 325 basis points at which it priced. Prior to the retap announcement, the bond was trading around 328 basis points over Treasurys.

The offering by Reliance follows a string of bond reopenings by Asian corporates.

Just this week, Hong Kong-listed developer Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. (0016.HK) priced a US$400 million tap of its US$500 million 2022 bond, while competitor Shui On Land Ltd. (0272.HK) priced a US$75 million tap of its US$400 million 2015 bond.

China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. (0688.HK), Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. (0012.HK), Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK), Nan Fung International Holdings Ltd. and Wharf (Holdings) Ltd. (0004.HK) have also reopened bonds they sold earlier in the year.

The phenomenon is in part a reflection of investors' defensive, cash-rich positioning in late 2011, which has led to strong demand for bonds--especially those by investment-grade issuers and household names--over the past couple of months, analysts say.

But another factor at play is the evolving role of Asian banks in providing funding to the region's corporates.

"We're starting to see a trend of issuance being driven not by major increases in spending, but as a reflection of Asian banks not being positioned as aggressively as in the past to provide cheap funding to corporates," said Viktor Hjort, head of Asia fixed income research at Morgan Stanley, adding that Hong Kong and India stood out in this regard.

He noted that Asian loan growth over the past couple of years and European lenders' reduced exposure meant the terms being offered by local banks--which have traditionally provided around two-thirds of the region's debt needs--had become less generous.

"We forecast that (ratio) shrinking to 60% this year, which is still a lot. But because the bond markets are that much smaller, the impact on issuance is significant," Hjort said.

-By Natasha Brereton-Fukui, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]