Corporate bond sales jump 65 pct in 2009

SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's corporate bond sales surged 65 percent
last year from a year earlier as firms tapped deeper into the debt market to
raise capital amid a global credit squeeze, the securities deposit agency said
Wednesday.

A total of 1,489 companies issued a combined 75.7 trillion won (US$ 66.5 billion)
in bonds in 2009, compared with 46 trillion won the previous year, according to
the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).
During the 12-month period, firms repaid bonds worth 30.8 trillion won, taking
their net issuance to 44.9 trillion won, the depository said.
Both the total sales figure and net sales mark the highest level since 2004, the
agency said. It did not provide figures before 2004.
The majority of the debt sales were designed to raise working capital, according
to the KSD. Companies raced to tap the bond market last year in the aftermath of
the global financial crisis, which froze bank loans and corporate sales.
The state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. was the top corporate bond issuer
with sales of 1.5 trillion won, trailed by oil-refiner GS Caltex Corp. at 1.4
trillion won, it said.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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