CNA938 Rewind - Why Asian companies choose US markets for IPOs
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Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
Singapore new corporate debt issuance up 34% to S$308 billion in 2024
[SINGAPORE] The corporate debt market saw robust growth in 2024, with new debt issuances rising 34 per cent year on year to S$308 billion. This comprises new issuances for short-term and long-term Singapore dollar and non-Singapore dollar debt, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) Corporate Debt Market Development Report 2025. The report, published on Thursday (Aug 7), showed that in 2024, issuance volumes in Singapore – for long-term total Singdollar and non-Singdollar bonds – hit US$75 billion, 15 per cent higher than the average issuance volumes in the past five years. Excluding a large multi-tranche issuance that resulted in a record issuance volume in 2023, Singapore's bond issuance grew 67.1 per cent year on year in 2024, MAS said. This comes as global bond issuance volume rose to US$9.1 trillion in 2024, amid interest rate cuts which lowered borrowing costs and encouraged issuers to capitalise on more favourable financing conditions. Financial institutions (FIs) remained the leading debt issuers across both Singdollar and non-Singdollar bonds in 2024. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Total outstanding debt arranged by FIs in Singapore rose 9 per cent year on year, to S$617 billion. FIs drove issuances in the non-Singdollar market, with their share increasing 23.7 per cent and issuance volumes rising S$92 billion in 2024, due to the need to fund growth in their asset books. MAS noted that Singapore continued to be an attractive funding destination for global corporates. For the Singdollar market, growth in issuances was broad-based across financial institutions, corporates and statutory boards, supported by lower rates and tighter credit spreads. MAS also pointed out that Singapore is well-positioned to support growth in the digital corporate bond market. While digital bond adoption remains at an early stage relative to traditional bond markets, the technology's potential to enhance efficiency and lower costs indicates promising growth prospects, said the authority. It added that, in 2025, it launched the Global-Asia Digital Bond Grant Scheme to support digital bond issuances and facilitate mainstream adoption. As at the end of 2024, Singapore's digital corporate bond issuance totalled around US$2.5 billion, from a range of issuers including corporations, financial institutions and special purpose vehicles.
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
Mining giants squeeze dividends with an eye toward funding growth
[MELBOURNE] So far this earnings season, large miners are paying out their lowest dividends in years, as mineral prices slip and they need to retain cash for their massive development projects, while trying to keep a lid on costs. Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Glencore have all reported lower half year earnings, with BHP expected to continue the trend when it reports on Aug 19. After years of strong China-driven profits backed by Covid-19- and Russia-linked supply snags, they are now operating against a backdrop of lower profits, high capital spending plans, or a full-scale restructuring in the case of Anglo American. That is capping what the miners are willing to return to shareholders, analysts and fund managers said. Prices of key commodities iron ore and coal have dropped around 13 per cent since the start of the year. Miners are instead doubling down on projects for copper, which is up 8 per cent this year on expected energy transition demand, but it still remains too small a part of their portfolios to offset losses elsewhere. Many of the large diversified miners are in the most capital intensive stage of development they have been in for a long time, and that is unlikely to change in the near term, said Brenton Saunders, a portfolio manager at Pendal Group in Sydney. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'In the absence of a move higher in commodity prices, payouts are likely going to stay relatively depressed,' Saunders added. Growth projects by the majors include BHP's Jansen potash mine in Canada where it will spend up to US$7.4 billion for the first stage of development, from a previous estimate of US$5.7 billion, it said last month. Rio Tinto expects to spend more than US$13 billion on iron ore mines to replace depleted ones in Western Australia in the next three years alone. Anglo is busy selling off its coal and diamond divisions while Glencore has been hit by low prices for its key commodity coal. Glencore on Wednesday reported a 14 per cent drop in first-half earnings due to weaker coal prices and lower copper production, and an increase in net debt. The company kept its dividend unchanged and did not announce further share buybacks. It said would it maintain its base dividend of US$0.05 per share, equal to the previous half-year period, which was its lowest since 2021. Rio Tinto last week reported its smallest first-half underlying profit since 2020 and lowest interim dividend in seven years, given the drop in iron ore prices and rising costs at its Australian business. Anglo American reported a US$1.9 billion loss in the first half of 2025, reduced its dividend to the lowest in at least five years, and said restructuring efforts continued. Analysts expect BHP will set its full-year payout at US$1.02, which would be the lowest in eight years. REUTERS
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
SoftBank Group swings to profit in first quarter on market enthusiasm for tech stocks
[TOKYO] Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group on Thursday (Aug 7) booked a net profit of US$2.87 billion in the first quarter, driven by gains among larger listed investments in its Vision Fund portfolio. The result will likely be welcomed by investors as SoftBank pursues its biggest spending spree since the launch of its Vision Funds in 2017 and 2019, this time making mammoth investments in artificial intelligence companies. Investors and analysts are awaiting updates on how these investments will be financed, the timeline for returns to materialise and whether assets will be sold to fund the new projects. Favourable market conditions for technology companies over the quarter raised valuations of SoftBank's array of startup stakes, potentially fuelling monetisation opportunities that can be directed toward newer investments. SoftBank's Vision Funds hold US$45 billion worth of late-stage companies ready to list soon, up from US$36 billion at the end of March. The group overall logged a net profit of 421.8 billion yen (S$3.68 billion) for the April-June quarter. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The result compared with a net loss of 174.3 billion yen for the same period a year earlier and the 127.6 billion yen average profit from three analyst estimates compiled by LSEG. The Vision Fund unit posted an investment gain of 726.8 billion yen, around half of which derived from a surge in the share price of South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang over the quarter. AI investment spree SoftBank is leading a US$40 billion funding round for ChatGPT maker OpenAI. SoftBank has until the end of the year to fund its US$22.5 billion portion, although the remainder has been subscribed, according to a source familiar with the matter. It is also leading the financing for the Stargate project – a US$500 billion scheme to develop data centres in the United States, part of its effort to position itself as the 'organiser of the industry,' founder Masayoshi Son said in June. SoftBank has yet to release details on what kinds of returns its financing of the Stargate project could generate. The extent of third-party investment will determine what other financing tools, such as bank loans and debt issuance, it may have to deploy. In July, SoftBank raised US$4.8 billion by selling off a portion of its holding in T-Mobile. However, SoftBank's performance in exiting from investments and distributing profit has been patchy of late. The Vision Funds have made a cumulative investment gain of just US$5 billion out of a total committed capital of US$172.2 billion as of the end of June. REUTERS
