8 Feb 2018 15:29

Rosneft lowers rate guidance on 40 bln rubles in bonds to 7.5%-7.55% - source

MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax) - Rosneft has lowered rate guidance on the first coupon of 40 billion rubles in 002P-04 series bonds to 7.5%-7.55% from 7.55%-7.60% per annum, a source in banking circles told Interfax.

The new guidance corresponds to a yield to offer in five years of 7.64%-7.69% per annum.

The company had originally planned to place at least 15 billion rubles in bonds but increased the offering to 40 billion rubles.

Book building is taking place on February 8 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Moscow time. First coupon guidance was 7.60%-7.70% in premarketing, but this was lowered to 7.55%-7.60% after book-building began.

The technical placement of the 10-year bonds is scheduled for February 15. The bonds have a face value of 1,000 rubles each.

The issue is being organized by Gazprombank , VTB Capital and Sberbank CIB.

Rosneft last tapped the bond market in December 2017: it sold a total of 600 billion rubles in two tranches of exchange bonds on December 6 at 8.35% per annum under its second bond program; and 30 billion rubles on December at 7.75%, also under the second program. All bonds have an offer in five years.

Funds are being raised in the framework of the company's business plan for the purpose of financing capital expenditures and investments, in particular for major high-return oil and gas production targets projects like Rospan, Russkoye, Srednebotuobinskoye, Tagulskoye, Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye, Trebs and Titov and Suzun, and for the planned refinancing at lower rates of current debt liabilities, the company said at the time.

The Moscow Exchange registered a first bond program for the company worth 1.071 trillion rubles without a fixed time limit in December 2016. Bonds maturing in up to 10 years can be placed under the program.

Rosneft had already placed eight issues of bonds (series 001P-01 - 001P-08) totaling 1.07 trillion rubles under that first program.

The Moscow Exchange registered a second Rosneft exchange bond program, series 002P, worth 1.3 trillion rubles in November. The bonds placed under this program will mature in up to 10 years. The program has no fixed time limit.

The company has seven classic bond issues worth 90 billion rubles and 36 exchange bond issues worth 2.771 trillion rubles outstanding.