[Edaily Marketin, Reporter Lee Geon-eom] #Seah Steel’s corporate bond bookbuilding attracted more than 2000억 won, reaching three times the target amount. Given that investor sentiment in the corporate bond market has recently been somewhat subdued, this is being viewed as a successful offering.

According to the financial investment industry on the 17th, SeAH Steel received a total of 240 billion won in orders during the bookbuilding for its unsecured corporate bonds, totaling 80 billion won, held that day. By maturity, 185 billion won was raised for the 2-year tranche (40 billion won target) and 55 billion won for the 3-year tranche (40 billion won target).

Amid this substantial inflow of funds, the interest rate terms for each maturity were also excellent. Based on the offering amount, the spread for both the 2-year and 3-year bonds was minus (-) 5 basis points (1 bp = 0.01 percentage point) compared to the respective market averages, marking a successful “under-issuance.” SeAH Steel had initially set aside a limit to increase the offering size to a maximum of 160 billion won, depending on the results of the bookbuilding.

Market observers view the low yields on SeAH Steel’s corporate bonds in this book-building process as a reflection of the company’s stable profit-generating capacity and strong fundamentals, even amid the recent slowdown in the steel industry. Amid a growing trend toward selective investment based on credit ratings, SeAH Steel’s solid market dominance is seen as having positively influenced investor sentiment.

SeAH Steel’s total consolidated debt as of the end of the first quarter of this year stood at 443.5 billion won, a slight increase of just 0.2% from 442.7 billion won at the end of the previous year. The debt-to-equity ratio stood at 23.1%, down 1.1 percentage points from 24.2% during the same period, maintaining a sound level. Financial expenses also decreased by 12.1% to 91억 원, down from 104억 원 in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, NH Investment & Securities, KB Securities, and Korea Investment & Securities served as joint lead managers for this SeAH Steel corporate bond issuance. Korea Credit Rating and NICE Credit Rating have assigned a credit rating of “A+ (Stable)” to SeAH Steel’s unsecured bonds.