Friday, July 24 2015 11:25

The successful inaugural bond issue listing on the Vienna Stock Exchange has encouraged Ardshinbank to launch a second issue on the Irish Stock Exchange. The second issue proves to be bigger than the first one. This time the issue has amounted to $100 million with a public offering. The coupon yield is 12% and the payment frequency is once every six months. The nominal value of the bonds is  $100 thsd. The redemption of the second issue bonds expires on 29 July 2020. The lead manager of the second issue, like in the first case, is J.P. Morgan Securities Plc.  

Ardshinbank has actually placed two issues of its bonds worth a total of USD175 million on the international markets. The first issue is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange and clearing is through Euroclear and Clearstream. The offering took place on 9 December 2014, with the issue amounting to $75 million, and the coupon yield being 12%. The payment frequency is once a quarter. The initial offering yield is 12% and the redemption period expires on 9 December 2017. The transaction marked the inaugural note offering for Ardshinbank and represented the first offering of its kind from any private sector entity in the Republic of Armenia, successfully following the sovereign's own inaugural benchmark bond transaction in late 2013.  Ardshinbank's management was pleased with the transaction and the level of interest from the international investor community. " This is a remarkable step not only for our bank, but also for our country, as this issuance helps put Armenian private sector on the map of international financial markets," said the Bank's leadership. 

To recall, on 19 January 2015, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the long-term local-currency deposit and foreign-currency senior unsecured debt ratings of Ardshinbank to Ba3 from Ba2, and downgraded Ardshinbank's foreign-currency deposit rating to B1 from Ba3. The outlook on both ratings was changed to negative from stable.  On 17 June 2015, Fitch Ratings published Ardshinbank CJSC's Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'B+' with Negative Outlook. The rating matches the one published for the Armenian Republic, being the highest possible that an Armenian private entity can qualify for.  

To note, Ardshinbank (formerly Ardshininvestbank) has been operating on the Armenian market since Feb 2003. In November 2014 the bank was renamed into Ardshinbank again. It has one of the largest branch networks in the country (55 branches throughout Armenia). In early 2014 Ardshinbank raised USD 18 million in a syndicated loan, becoming the first bank in Armenia to have concluded such a transaction without multilateral agency support. By the latest data, the majority shareholder of the Bank is "Center for Business Investments" LLC with a 97.23% stake. Ardshinbank is among the leaders of the Armenian banking system by its key parameters.  The Bank is among the TOP-3 in terms of total capital, assets, lending, general obligations. The Bank is among the TOP-5 in terms of investments in securities and net profit.