IRISH LIFE & Permanent (ILP), one of the six private financial institutions protected by the Government guarantee scheme, has raised a further €1 billion on international bond markets.
The bond issue last week, which was unreported until now, brings to €3 billion the money raised by IL&P since the introduction of the guarantee last September. It matures when the guarantee expires in September 2010.
An IL&P spokesman declined to comment yesterday when asked when the institution might need to raise any further bonds or for how much.
Last week’s bond was priced at a yield of “just under” 3 per cent, IL&P said. This represents an improvement on the yield levels seen earlier in the year. A €1 billion bond sale in May carried a coupon of 3.75 per cent, as did a €1 billion issue in February.
IL&P said the issue was strongly supported. “Within two hours of the books opening, they were closed with the bond oversubscribed,” it said.
About 85 per cent of the issue was taken by international investors, reflecting a growing international appetite for Irish corporate and government bonds.
The deal was managed by Paribas, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.
Last month IL&P was downgraded by ratings agency Fitch.While the institution had fewer risks than rivals, Fitch expected a deteriorating business environment to lead to falling revenues and higher bad loans.
