Debt bonds recover, but remain below average

During the first semester, lCorporate debt issuance reached $2.16 trillion, an increase of 642% compared to the $291 billion in the first half of 2023, however, it remains below the historical average of placements per semester ($4.52 trillion).

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According to the Casa de Bolsa firm, Demand for the securities amounted to $3.6 billionequivalent to a growth of 917% compared to the $354 billion of the previous year. Thus, the bid to cover (demand versus placement) was 1.7x versus 1.2x in 2023.

The improvement in the dynamics of placements, according to Casa de Bolsa, was due to the better liquidity environment, the decrease in inflation from 13.34% in April 2023 to 7.16% in June 2024, a drop of 618 basis points (bps) and the decrease in rates by the Bank of the Republic from 13.25% in October 2023 to 11.25% in June 2024 (-200 bps).

Total, 12 issues were made, ten more than those recorded in the first half of 2023with the participation of 10 issuers (7 from the financial sector and 3 from the public sector).

The largest issues were made by PA Troncales Alimentadoras with $499 billion, ISA with $400 billion and Titularizadora Colombiana with $367 billion.

Three thematic issues were made for a total of $153 billion by Banco Finandina, which placed green bonds for $72 billion (47%), Credifamilia, with social mortgage bonds for $46 billion (30%) and ExcelCredit, which put ordinary social bonds on the market for $35 billion (23%).

By market type, 66% of the securities were placed on the main market (open to the general public), the remaining 33% were issued throughout the secondary market (professional investors).
The Stock Exchange says that regarding the placement mechanisms, 66% of the issues were carried out with a Dutch auction, while 33% were placed due to firm demand. Looking at denominations, 50% of the securities were issued at a Fixed Rate, 25% indexed to the IBR and 25% denominated in UVR.

In terms of the type of securities, 49% of the total ($1 trillion) was placed as Domestic Public Debt Bonds, 28% ($601 billion) in Ordinary Bonds, 13.2% ($286 billion) in Mortgage Securities, 6.3% ($138 billion) in Credit Securities and 3% ($80 billion) in Non-Mortgage Securities.

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Regarding the node where emissions were most concentrated, excluding securitizationswas the 3-year term (2027) with $310 billion.

The next node was the 2-year node (2026) with $295 billion, and finally the 15-year node (2039) with $250 billion.

By rating, 81.31% of the issues were placed with AAA rating ($1.7 billion), while 11% were issued with AA+ rating ($61 billion). Among these was the Credifamilia issue. whose guarantee was 100% of the nominal value of the mortgage bonds placed, while in the ExcelCredit issue the guarantee was for the payment of the capital and/or interest of the bonds issued and in circulation up to 60% of the value of the capital placed.

Regarding risk spreads, it was observed that the average spread between the reference TES and the AAA-rated Fixed Rate debt was 122 bps, the AA+-rated debt was 173 bps (433 bps with guarantee) and the AA-rated debt was 695 bps. In the case of AAA-rated CPI-indexed securities, the spread was 46 bps.

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HOLMAN RODRIGUEZ MARTINEZ
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