SBI's dollar-bond pricing sets new bar

The tight pricing reflects India's sovereign upgrade from BBB- to BBB and improved credit profile of SBI

- Abirami Sekar

State Bank of India's (SBI) successful dollar-bond issue at a relatively low risk premium over the benchmark US yield is expected to encourage more domestic corporates to tap this route to raise funds, experts said.

India's largest lender by assets raised $500 million on Tuesday through five-year senior unsecured fixed-rate notes, carrying a coupon of 4.5% payable semi-annually, according to a stock exchange filing. Given that the five-year US Treasury was at 3.74%, the spread over it would be around 75 basis points.

Citigroup, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, MUFG, SMBC Nikko and Standard Chartered Bank were the joint bookrunners for the transaction. The fundraise follows S&P's upgrade of India's sovereign and SBI's rating from BBB- to BBB.