YEREVAN, June 29. /ARKA/. The proceeds from the placement of AMD-denominated nominal coupon bonds (BSTBB1) issued by Black Sea Trade and Development Bank at NASDAQ OMX Armenia stock exchange will be used to support Armenia’s economic development, Christopher Best, the main treasurer of BSTDB, said today.
The placement of the bonds to the tune of AMD 2,000,000,000, which includes 200,000 coupon bonds with nominal value of AMD 10,000 each, coupon rate of 8.455% and maturity period of 3 years, were handled by Araratbank
Purchase orders for a total value of AMD 2,691,574,896.50 were submitted for the Bank’s bonds (ISIN- AMBSTBB21ER4), as a result of which the bonds were fully placed. The Issuer has attracted AMD 2,005,573,856.5 from placement. Cut-off price of the bonds was AMD 10,000.13, the cut-off yield stood at 8.4545%, and the weighted average yield was 8.3481%.
The liquidity of the bonds in the secondary market will be provided by Araratbank and Future Capital Market investment company, with which BSTDB has concluded an agreement on market maker services.
According to the executive director of Araratbank Ashot Osipyan, the deal with BSTDB is of great importance for the development of the Armenian securities market.
“This is a very important transaction for us, and it is very important that the funds from the placement will be used for the economic development of Armenia. More precisely, our partners decided to channel them into mortgage lending,” he said.
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution established by eleven countries of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Founders of BSTDB were Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. BSTDB started operations in June 1999. The Bank supports economic development and regional cooperation in the Black Sea Region through trade and project finance lending, guarantees, and equity participation in private enterprises and public entities in the member countries. BSTDB is rated “A-” by Standard & Poor’s and “A2” by Moody’s.
Araratbank established in 1991 is owned by Flash oil trader (64.25%), EBRD (25%) RURAL IMPULSE FUND II SA SICAV SIF (10%). On January 30, 2009, Araratbank became a participant of the NASDAQ OMX Armenia stock exchange. ($ 1 – 480.44 drams). -0-
