SBI raises Rs 10,000 crore via unsecured long-term infra bonds

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday raised Rs 10,000 crore at a coupon rate of 7.54 per cent through its third infrastructure bond issuance.

The bidding ended on Monday and the proceeds will be used in enhancing its long-term resources for funding infrastructure and the affordable housing segment, SBI said in a statement.

"The tenor of these bonds is 15 years. This is the first issuance of long-term bonds by any bank for this tenor in the current financial year. The issue attracted overwhelming response from investors with bids of Rs 21,698 crore and was oversubscribed 4.34 times against the base issue size," the statement said.

The number of bids received was 115, indicating wide participation, it said, adding that the investors included provident funds, pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds and corporates.

Based on the response, the bank has decided to accept Rs 10,000 crore at a coupon rate of 7.54 per cent payable annually for a tenor of 15 years.

This represents a spread of 13 bps over the corresponding Financial Benchmark of India Limited (FBIL) G-Sec par curve, it said.

Prior to this, the bank had raised infrastructure bonds of Rs 9,718 crore on January 19, 2023 at a spread of 17 bps over the corresponding FBIL G-Sec par curve. The bank has AAA credit rating with stable outlook from domestic credit rating agencies for these instruments.

This issuance is significant as despite the recent hardening of yields, the bank has been successful in raising 15-year long-term bond at a finer spread, the statement said, adding that this will help the bank in providing long-term loans to the infrastructure sector.

This issuance may help develop a long-term bond curve and encourage banks to issue bonds of longer tenor, it added.

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