Fidelity To Bank Settle $400m Eurobond Due Today
Fidelity Bank sent $421 million to settle a Eurobond due today, even as Nigeria continue to grapples with a growing scarcity of foreign exchange.
The Lagos-based bank transferred the sum on Oct. 13 for the settlement of the five-year, dollar-denominated bond issued in 2017 with a coupon of 10.75 per cent, according to a document seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by the lender’s head of investor relations, Samuel Obioha. The remitted amount includes the due coupon payments for six months, Obioha said.
The repayment comes as lenders in Africa’s largest economy struggle with the effect of a strengthening US currency, restricting dollar transactions on their local-currency debit cards. The central bank had to step in to provide dollars last month after international airlines struggled to get greenbacks from lenders to repatriate their profits, raising the prospect of them canceling flights to Nigeria.
Fidelity has a $400 million, five-year Eurobond maturing in October 2026, the yield on which is currently about 15 per cent, compared to 7.875 per cent when issued.
With yields like that, Fidelity has no immediate plans to issue another Eurobond, according to Obioha. “We will access the market anytime the market conditions align with our business needs,” he said.
It will be recalled that Fidelity Bank Plc concluded a highly successful Eurobond offering, raising $400 million from the international capital markets through a five-year tenor Eurobond, with a 7.765 per cent coupon last year October.
Source: blueprint.ng
