The MTR Corporation has sold HK$18.8 billion (US$2.4 billion) in green bonds, setting a Hong Kong dollar-denominated issuance record and marking its first publicly offered bond in the local currency market, as it seeks to diversify funding for a raft of projects.
The rail giant said on Wednesday that it sold five-, 10- and 30-year bonds, with the size of each tranche also representing the largest for their respective tenors to date.
Together with its inaugural Australian dollar-denominated green bonds, which raised A$2 billion (HK$11.22 billion) in January, the two fundraising exercises have raised HK$30 billion so far this year.
In the latest offering, retail investors can buy the bonds through platforms or products of institutional investors such as the Mandatory Provident Fund schemes, private banking channels or bond funds.
The overall order book for the issue exceeded HK$60 billion, or three times the total issue size, reflecting strong demand, the semi-privatised corporation said.
The more than HK$8.3 billion five-year, HK$7.5 billion 10-year and HK$3 billion 30-year tranches were priced with coupons of 2.88, 3.30 and 4.00 per cent respectively, the corporation said.