S. Korean corporate bond sales slump in Aug.

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's corporate bond issuance dropped 17.5
percent on-year in August as companies reduced their reliance on debt financing
amid a revival in the financial market, the nation's securities depository said
Wednesday.

A total of 31 local companies sold a combined 2.2 trillion won (US$1.8 billion)
worth of debt last month, compared with 2.7 trillion won a year earlier, the
Korea Securities Depository (KSD) said in a report. From a month earlier, the
August figure was down 49.8 percent, KSD said.
The firms redeemed 1.6 trillion won of bonds last month, bringing their net debt
sales to 663.9 billion won.
"Amid an upbeat economic outlook and improving liquidity conditions, firms
reduced debt financing," KSD official Kim Seung-hyun said.
Local companies had scrambled to sell debt to secure working capital following
the global financial rout last year, which froze bank loans and cut into their
earnings.
"Companies are, however, expected to boost bond issuance again in September as
they fear the Bank of Korea may soon begin to raise its policy rate," Kim said.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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