NOK 217 Billion Of New Loan Capital Raised On Oslo Børs Marketplaces

So far this year, companies have raised NOK 217 billion from new loans and increases to existing loans. This is 22% higher than the same period in 2013, which was a record year with NOK 280 billion raised.

This strong growth is related to the increasing number of companies choosing to have their fixed income securities listed on the Oslo Børs marketplaces. 34 companies have so far this year listed their first fixed income securities on the Oslo Børs marketplaces.

Many of the new issuers are foreign companies. Foreign companies that have listed bonds so far this year include oil companies such as Genel Energy, ShaMaran Petroleum, Iona Energy, Salamander Energy and IGas Energy, as well as rig companies such as Axis Offshore, BassDrill Alpha and North Atlantic Drilling, and the shipping companies GasLogand Bluewater Holding.

The Norwegian market for corporate bonds – including high-yield bonds – has become an export industry, with foreign companies coming to Norway to raise loan capital from foreign investors. The Norwegian high-yield market has proved particularly popular with borrowers in the energy and maritime sectors.  These are attractive sectors for international borrowers. Norwegian investment firms have developed both specialist expertise and placing capacity for borrowers in these sectors, and Oslo is often mentioned in the same way as New York and London as one of the world's best-functioning high-yield markets.

The companies raising the most loan capital are, however, banks and insurance companies. 64% of the volume of issues this year has gone to finance banks and insurance companies. Covered bonds, also known as mortgage bonds, are by far the largest type of bond on the Oslo Børs market places, and represent 31% of the volume of issues this year.

The volume of issues is reflected in the value of outstanding fixed income issues listed on the Oslo Børs market places. At the end of August, the total value of bonds and certificates, excluding government bonds, was NOK 1,053 billion. Banks and insurance companies account for nearly 70% of this total. More than one third by value (37%) of outstanding fixed income issues are covered bonds.

 
Source of loan capital (new issues and increases in existing issues – excluding government issues), figures in NOK billion:

Oslo Børs operates two marketplaces for listing and trading in fixed income instruments: Nordic ABM and Oslo Børs. Companies with bonds and certificates listed on Nordic ABM raised NOK 85 billion in the first eight months of 2014, while NOK 132 billion was raised in the same period by companies whose bonds and certificates are listed on Oslo Børs.