South Africa Lines Up Rare Eurobond as Concern Over Eskom Grows

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa)  – South Africa is back in the Eurobond market for the first time since May last year, looking to offer securities with returns that compensate investors for mounting fiscal woes.

The government is marketing 10- and 30-year dollar securities with yields of between 5% to 5.125% and about 5.875% respectively, according to a person familiar with the transaction who asked not be identified because they are not authorized to speak about it.

Average yields on South Africa’s dollar bonds fell 163 basis points between the start of the year and early September to 4.7%, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s indexes, amid a dovish turn by global central banks. But they have since climbed to 4.95% as concern mounts over the financial burden of state-companies such as Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.

“Over the last few weeks, South African external bonds have underperformed versus peers, so the cheapening up should raise sufficient interest to compensate for the increasing fiscal concerns,” said Trieu Pham, a strategist at ING Groep NV in London. “The initial price talk’s quite juicy versus the outstanding curve.”

Yields on $2 billion of bonds due October 2028 rose two basis points to 4.64% by 2:58 p.m. in Johannesburg. They have risen by around 40 basis points since early September.

The government’s 2019 budget stipulated that it would raise the equivalent of $2 billion on international capital markets. A further $2 billion is outstanding from the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Source: Bloomberg Business News