KDB sells AU$500 mln of bonds in Australia

SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Wednesday it has issued AU$500 mln of bonds in Australia as part of efforts to help coronavirus-hit South Korean firms.

The three-year "Kangaroo" bonds come in two tranches -- floating-rate bonds worth AU$200 million and fixed-rate debt worth AU$300 million.

The floating-rate bonds carry an interest rate of 0.62 percentage point above the Australian bank bill swap rate, with the rate coming to 0.8325 percent for the fixed-rate ones.

Kangaroo bonds are Australian dollar-denominated bonds floated in Australia by non-residents.

The KDB said the proceeds will be used to help support struggling South Korean firms in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and to fund its overseas projects.

The state lender added it has floated Kangaroo bonds at the lowest floating rate among Asian financial institutions this year.

Meanwhile, the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) said it has issued US$1 million worth of foreign currency bonds linked to the Federal Reserve's Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).

The one-year bonds carry a spread of 0.6 percentage point above SOFR, which is widely viewed as an alternative for the London Interbank Offered Rates (LIBOR), whose calculation will end in December next year.

Eximbank said it has become the first domestic financial institution to float SOFR-linked bonds and the third in Asia after the Asian Development Bank and Bank of China.

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