Government comes out tops in bond issuer rankings for first quarter

BPAM said the government made RM50bil worth of issuances in the three-month period ended March 31, 2024.

PETALING JAYA: The government has been recognised as the overall top bond issuer in the country for the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24), according to Bond Pricing Agency Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BPAM).

In its “Bond League Tables” report for 1Q24, BPAM said the government made RM50bil worth of issuances in the three-month period ended March 31, 2024.

Additionally, government bonds were also the top traded bonds overall with a total traded value of RM221.38bil.

Previously, Bank Negara was acknowledged as the country’s top overall bond issuer for two consecutive quarters, in 3Q23 and 4Q23.

Meanwhile, the top corporate bond issuer in 1Q24 was Pac Lease Bhd with RM1.41bil worth of corporate bonds issued.

On the other hand, Cagamas Bhd’s debt papers were the top traded corporate bond, amounting to RM1.17bil.

Further, Maybank Islamic Bhd was ranked as the top sukuk issuer with RM4bil raised from sukuk for the quarter under review, while the top traded sukuk was those issued by Danainfra Nasional Bhd, at RM5.93bil.

Malaysian Trustees Bhd was named as the top bond trustee overall by value (RM48.51bil), top bond trustee by issuance (91 issues), top conventional bond trustee by value (RM2.47bil) and top sukuk trustee by value (RM46.04bil).

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd was the top lead arranger overall in 1Q24, having handled a total value of RM11.87bil. In terms of the number of issuances, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd emerged at the top, with 114 issues handled in the quarter.