RP global bond cited

The Republic of the Philippines’ global seven-year bond was recently named "Best Sovereign Issue" of 2002 in The Asset magazine’s annual year-end Asian Awards, an annual review of the best deals in the region’s financial markets.

The Asset said the Philippines’ $1 billion bond due March 2009, for which HSBC was joint global coordinator and bookrunner, "takes the Philippines into a new league of liquid issuance among the emerging market sovereign issuers at a time when the universe of mainstream emerging market credits is diminishing."

The global bond was issued in March 2002 at a price of 99.351 percent and a coupon of 8.5 percent to yield 8.375 percent, or a spread of 344 basis points over US Treasurys. The issue size was increased from the planned $750 million to $1 billion due to strong demand from investors.

"The transaction was notable for its speed of execution, effectively going from soft launch to pricing within 36 hours, observing complete confidentiality before the launch to minimize market risk," The Asset’s editors said. "This deal proved to be a standout," the editors of the Hong Kong-based regional financial magazine added.