London, June 17, 2004 - The World Bank issued a liquid USD 1 billion 5-year global bond today. The bond met with very strong demand from investors all over the world.
"With an annual funding volume of about USD 12 to 15 billion per year, we aim to do 1 or 2 benchmark-sized global bonds per year, to maintain a strategic presence in the market and respond to investor demand for liquid products"said Doris Herrera-Pol, Manager, Capital Markets Operations, World Bank Treasury. "Maturity, timing, and volume decisions are made based on what investors prefer."
This transaction was joint lead-managed by Citigroup, Daiwa, and Morgan Stanley, who together took almost 90% of the bonds.
The balance was syndicated to the following co-managers: ABN Amro, Dresdner Kleinwort Wassertstein, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan and Nomura.
The bonds were placed 60% with Asian investors, 25% with European investors and 15% with investors in the Americas. The distribution by investor type was: 63% Central Banks, 23% Banks, 9% Investment Funds, and 5% Insurance and Pension Funds. The bonds were sold to a variety of accounts through about 50 tickets, with the largest ticket at USD 100 million, and the smallest ticket at USD 100,000.
The 5-year World Bank bonds were issued with a coupon of 4.125% per annum and an issue price of 99.687%. This gives investors a yield of 4.195%, equivalent to a spread of 20 basis points above the underlying US Treasury bond.
As registered Fed Bookentry notes, the securities will be eligible for clearing through the major clearing systems - Euroclear and Clearstream in Europe, and Fedwire in the US.
Amount: USD 1 billion
Settlement date: June 24, 2004
Coupon: 4.125% per annum 30/360
Original maturity: 5 years, due June 24, 2009
Issue price: 99.687%
Spread: 20 basis points over the 5-year US Treasury
Interest payment dates: June 24, December 24
Listing: Luxembourg
Form of notes: Registered, Fed Bookentry notes
Clearing systems : Fedwire, Euroclear or Clearstream
The World Bank's bond products and investor presentation can be accessed through the website of the World Bank for bond investors (www.worldbank.org/debtsecurities). For a list of selected bonds issued recently by the World Bank, see: https://treasury.worldbank.org/recentissues.
