ICICI Bank has become the top arranger of bond issues for the period between April and December 2018.

According to data from Prime Database, the private sector bank helped Indian firms raise ₹95,856.10 crore through bonds and non-convertible debentures through 107 issues.

This was followed by Axis Bank, which helped India Inc raise ₹93,296.27 crore from such instruments through a total of 101 issues.

According to the data, Indian companies raised a total of ₹ 3.65 lakh crore from bonds and NCDs through 1,547 issues between April 1 and December 31 last year.

Though bond issuances were seen to be comparatively lower in 2018, compared to 2017, it seems to have picked up in the latter part of the year.

Private placement route

According to a recent report by CARE Ratings, total issuances through the private placement route stood at ₹3.73 lakh crore during the period April-December 2018, compared with ₹4.60 lakh crore during the same period last year.

“While this is significantly lower, the positive development has been the quantum of issuances in December, which was ₹84,925 crore, the highest in a month this year,” it noted.

An ICICI Bank spokesperson said the lender expects the corporate bond market to continue to occupy centre-stage in the months ahead, on the back of regulatory reforms, product innovation, and investor flows.

“On the supply side, the regulatory framework is encouraging corporate borrowers to actively consider corporate bonds as part of their overall incremental debt funding.

“On the demand side, we see investor demand to sustain for quasi-sovereign, public sector names, as well as for high-quality, non-financial credits from the private sector,” the spokesperson said while attributing the bank’s top position in the league table to client coverage, market consistency, and ability to execute size.

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