HONG KONG: China has hired 10 banks including Agricultural Bank of China Bank of Communications, and Citigroup for its $2 billion dollar-denominated sovereign bond issue, according to an internal bank memo seen by Reuters on Friday.
Besides Citigroup, other foreign banks hired by the People’s Republic of China (PBOC), acting through the Ministry of Finance, for the issue are Deutsche Bank, HSBC , and Standard Chartered, the memo showed.
Bank of China, China Construction Bank , China International Capital Corp, and Industrial and Commercial bank of China will also be working on the transaction.
Due to its scarcity, the bond is expected to see strong investor demand despite downgrades of China’s sovereign credit rating this year by S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service. Both agencies cited increasing risks from the country’s rapid build-up of debt.
But the bond sale will test if the rating agencies’ actions would increase borrowing costs for institutions in the world’s second-largest economy.
China’s central bank chief on Thursday issued a warning about asset bubbles in the economy, which looks set to clock its first acceleration in annual growth since 2010, driven by public spending and record bank lending.
The finance ministry said earlier this month that the issue will consist of $1 billion of five-year bonds and $1 billion of 10-year bonds.
Thomson Reuters publication IFR said that the issuance, if completed, would be China’s first dollar bond offering since October 2004, and that the sovereign bond will be issued in the second half of this year.
The memo said the banks hired for the bond issuance would arrange a meeting with fixed-income investors in Hong Kong on October 25.
China hires 10 banks including Citigroup, HSBC for $2bn sovereign bond issue
China hires 10 banks including Citigroup, HSBC for $2bn sovereign bond issue
Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 11,228
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, lost 23.17 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 11,228.64.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR2.99 billion ($797 million), as 170 of the stocks advanced and 82 retreated.
On the other hand, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 449.38 points, or 1.90 percent, to close at 24,093.12. This comes as 43 of the stocks advanced while 27 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index lost 6.07 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 1,511.36.
The best-performing stock of the day was Obeikan Glass Co., whose share price surged 7.54 percent to SR27.66.
Other top performers included Alamar Foods Co., whose share price rose 6.80 percent to SR47.10, as well as Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., whose share price climbed 6.79 percent to SR5.66.
Saudi Investment Bank recorded the steepest drop, falling 3.21 percent to SR13.56.
Jahez International Co. for Information System Technology also saw its share price fall 3.15 percent to SR13.55.
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. declined 2.78 percent to SR7.34.
On the announcements front, Tanmiah Food Co. reported its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. According to a Tadawul statement, the company recorded a net loss of SR18.8 million, compared with a net profit of SR95.8 million a year earlier.
The net loss was mainly due to ongoing market challenges that resulted in continued pricing pressures in fresh poultry, inflationary cost pressures, higher financing expenses, and depreciation and ramp-up costs from new facilities, partially offset by increased production volumes and cost-optimization initiatives.
Tanmiah Food Co. ended the session at SR58.20, up 3.72 percent.
United International Holding Co., also known as Tas’heel, announced its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. A bourse filing showed the company recorded a net profit of SR273.64 million in 2025, up 23.05 percent from 2024, primarily driven by a 23.4 percent rise in revenues. The revenue growth helped lift gross profit by 23.7 percent.
Tas’heel ended the session at SR146.80, down 0.28 percent.
