Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp (KCRC) yesterday raised HK$800 million by selling bonds to institutional investors. Lead arranger of the sale HSBC said it topped up the issue by HK$300 million as the original HK$500 million issue drew strong demand. KCRC's sale is part of the transport utility's HK$1 billion bond sale, of which a HK$500 million tranche will be offered to retail investors on Wednesday. 'The institutional tranche sold well as investors seek fixed-income products amid a weak equity market and an uncertain interest rate regime,' HSBC Greater China debt markets client group head Helen Wong said. She said the HK$800 million tranche, to mature in 2013, had a yield of 4.65 per cent. Industry sources said the retail tranche would be divided into two parts. One part would come with a tenor of five years and the other 10 years. The 10-year maturity was unprecedented in Hong Kong's fledgling retail bond market, the sources said. The industry sources compared it with the Hong Kong Airport Authority's seven-year tenor retail bond last year, which was heavily subscribed. The bond sales are part of the KCRC's HK$30 billion fund-raising for construction of the HK$9.2 billion Kowloon South rail link and HK$35 billion Sha Tin and Central rail link next year.
