S. Korean corporate bond issuance surges 40 pct in Q3

Seoul, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's corporate bond issuance jumped 40 percent
in the third quarter from a year earlier as companies scrambled to raise capital
in the debt market amid a global economic slowdown, the nation's securities
depository said Monday.

A total of 405 local firms sold a combined 12.7 trillion won (US$10.8 billion)
worth of debts in the July-September period, compared with 9.1 trillion won a
year earlier, the Korea Securities Depository (KSD) said in a report. In
September, corporate bond sales reached 6 trillion won.
During the three months, companies redeemed 7.2 trillion won in maturing bonds,
taking their net debt sales to 5.5 trillion won, according to KSD.
The increased sale of corporate bonds is attributable to companies' efforts to
raise liquidity amid a global economic downturn, KSD said.
Local firms also hastened debt sales ahead of an expected key rate hike by the
central bank, it said.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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