The TR BPAM All Bond Index has continued to gain 0.05 per cent from 132.52 last week to 132.59 this week despite a slight rise in government bond yields across all tenures during the week.
On Friday, the Department of Statistics had announced that the Malaysian Consumer Price Index (CPI) had inched up to 3.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in February this year.
This was the third consecutive month where real interest rate remained in negative territory. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in its 2013 Annual Report released on Wednesday had projected the inflation to be three to four per cent in 2014.
Trading activities for the top 10 most actively traded bonds picked up some steam over the week to RM13.4 billion from RM8.47 billion last week, an increase of 58 per cent.
The seven-year benchmark GII maturing on March 23, 2021 topped the list with RM2.27 billion changed hands.
On March 20, BNM announced the details of the re-opening auction of the 10-year benchmark GII maturing on May 22, 2024 with an issuance size of RM2.5 billion. The tender, which had closed on March 20, managed to garner solid demand a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.511 times. The highest, average and lowest yield was at 4.241, 4.236 and 4.22 per cent respectively.
On March 18, Bumitama Agri Ltd, an Indonesian plantation company listed on the Singapore stock exchange issued one tranche of Islamic Medium Term Notes (IMTN) with a tenure of five years, amounting to RM500 million.
The IMTN, rated AA3 by RAM Ratings, carries a profit rate of 5.25 per cent.
The Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Bhd issued two tranches of sukuk with tenures of three and five years amounting to RM1 billion with profit rates of 3.7 and 4.06 per cent respectively. These issues are guaranteed by the Government of Malaysia.
On March 21, Telekom Malaysia Bhd issued one tranche of 10-year IMTN worth RM300 million with a profit rate of 4.82 per cent.
Additionally, Petronas Dagangan Bhd issued a RM300 million sukuk with a profit rate of 3.53 per cent. This issue is rated AAAIS by MARC.
On March 18, RAM Ratings had withdrawn the rating of Binariang GSM Sdn Bhd’s RM Equivalent of US$900 million cumulative non-convertible Islamic junior sukuk after the resolution to withdraw the rating had been passed by the sukukholders.
MARC had affirmed its AAA and B- ratings on special purpose vehicle Special Coral Sdn Bhd’s (Special Coral) Senior Class A and Subordinated Class Medium Term Notes (MTNs) respectively.
Concurrently, MARC had upgraded its ratings on the Senior Class B through Senior Class F MTNs. The Senior Class B MTNs had been upgraded one notch while the Senior Class C through Senior Class F MTNs had been upgraded two notches from their previous ratings.
The outlook on all the ratings is stable. The ratings on the Senior MTNs are premised on the operational performance of Queensbay Mall, which has given rise to healthy loan-to-value (LTV) and debt service coverage ratios (DSCR).
The ratings upgrade on the Senior Class B through Senior Class F MTNs is in accordance with the rating agency’s LTV parameters.