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Croatia issues 1.5 bn euro bond with 3.3% yield

Author: rmli
ZAGREB, March 4 (Hina) - Croatia on Wednesday issued a 1.5 billion euro 10-year benchmark-sized bond at mid-swaps plus 260bp area, with a 3.3% yield.

The yield is lower than this morning, when the country started marketing the bond at mid-swaps plus 287.5bp area, with a 3.57% yield.

Demand for the bond reached 6.5 billion euros, Reuters reported. Croatia has set a final price guidance at mid-swaps plus 260bp area, plus or minus 5bp.

"The timing of the new borrowing is good," economic analyst Hrvoje Stojic of Hypo Alpe Adria Bank said.

He explained that the European Central Bank in March launched a programme of quantitative monetary easing and that the situation in the euro area regarding Greece had calmed down, resulting in yields of peripheral members of the euro area having declined to record low levels.

"Also, Croatia has offered its bond at a time when there are no other bond issues in the euro bond market. That explains the high demand," Stojic said.

Commenting on the yield, which is almost by one percentage point lower than for the previous bond issue in May 2014, Stojic said that this would have a positive impact on the budget deficit and public debt.

He noted, however, that the yield was still higher than the yield paid by countries with comparable credit ratings. "The 3.3% yield is, for instance, 100bp higher than the yield paid by Hungary and 140bp higher than the yield paid by Romania," he said.

Barclays, Erste Bank, JP Morgan and UniCredit arranged the latest bond issue.

Last December, Finance Minister Boris Lalovac said that Croatia would go on the foreign bond market in early 2015. He said at the time that the bond issue would be worth around one billion euros, estimating that the interest rate on the bonds could be below 3.5%.

Croatia last issued government bonds on the foreign market in May 2014. It then collected 1.25 billion euros with a maturity date of 2022 and an interest rate of slightly above 4%.

Croatia is rated Ba1 by Moody's, BB by Standard & Poor's and BB by Fitch. All three agencies have given Croatia's rating a non-investment grade.

(Hina) rml

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