Seven States, Fidelity, Others Raise N141bn Bond

Seven states of the federation including Plateau and Oyo raised a total of N60.95bn through the bond market in 2015, the Debt Management Office said on Tuesday.

It also disclosed in a report of its activities in 2015 that corporate organisations including Fidelity Bank and FCMB Financing SPV Plc raised N81.55bn through the market within the year.

Statistics showed that Plateau State raised a total of N28.2bn from the market while Oyo State raised a total of N4.8bn from the market.

Other states that patronised the bond market in 2015 included Gombe, N5bn; Kogi, N3bn; Benue, N4.95bn; Zamfara, N7bn; and Cross River, N8bn.

The report said, “The number of states that accessed the domestic bonds market in 2015 was relatively high compared to 2014. Seven states raised funds from the capital market in 2015, with a total face value of N60.95bn, which represented a huge increase from the N15bin recorded in 2014.

“Plateau State alone accounted for 46.27 per cent of the total bonds issued by the seven states in 2015.”

Five corporate organisations, on the other hand, raised a total of N81.55bn from the bond market in the same year, the report said.

The corporate organisations are Fidelity Bank Plc, N30bn; Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company, N8bn; Transcorp Hotels Plc, N19.76bn; FCMB Financing SPV Plc, N23.19bn; and C&I Leasing Plc, N600m.

The report said, “The corporate bonds segment of the domestic bonds market was relatively active in 2015, compared to 2014 in terms of new issuances.

“The total face value of issuances by five corporates stood at N81.55bn, compared to the total face value of N48.04bn issued by four corporates in 2014.

“The debt issue by Fidelity Bank Plc accounted for 36.79 per cent of the total corporate bonds issuances in 2015.”

The report also indicated that the level of trading activities in the FGN Bonds market increased in 2015, compared to 2014, adding that the total face value increased from N7.39tn in 2014 to N9.49tn in 2015, an increase of 28.48 per cent.

It said, “The consideration also increased from N8.07tn to N9.58tn or by 18.75 per cent. Number of deals grew from 45,890 to 46,864 in the same period.

“In 2015, trading activities were boosted as most of the challenges that had arisen from adopting the CBN’s Scripless Securities Settlement System as the new settlement vehicle for the FGN Bonds were addressed and most dealers had become conversant with the system.”

The report added that the use of the FMDQ OTC E-Bond Platform, which became fully operational in March 2014 enabled dealers to trade in a more professional manner, with enhanced price discovery and transparency in the FGN Bond market.