1 week Ago By Ameya Karve
(Bloomberg) -- Asia’s high-yield dollar bond sales this year have grown annually for the first time in five years, fueled by Indian financial companies’ rush to access offshore investors. Regional sales of such corporate notes, outside of Japan, touched $5.6 billion so far this year, already surpassing $4.
4 billion in all of 2023, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Indian borrowers have topped the share of sales so far this year, with nearly 41% share. The annual declines prior to this year’s hike started in 2020 and aligned with four years of China’s property crisis that sent several builders — major contributors to Asia’s junk dollar bond market — into distress, restructuring and liquidation.
The uptick speaks to investors’ confidence in India’s growth and robust consumer demand, while regional rivals, including China, rein in offshore borrowing amid economic uncertainties and rising debt. “A number of Indian borrowers are ready to tap the high yield offshore bond market, taking advantage of strong investor appetite seen in recent deals,” Bhavik Pandya, head of debt capital markets for Southeast Asia at Bank of America, said. Indian shadow banks — hemmed in by the central bank’s regulatory push to rein in their ability to borrow domestically — have been particularly eager to secure offshore financing to lend in one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies.
Three such lenders — Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd., Shriram Finance Ltd. and.
