SK Ecoplant secured nearly 1 trillion won in a demand forecast for a corporate bond issuance.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 22nd, SK Ecoplant received 987 billion won in valid orders against a total target of 100 billion won in a corporate bond demand forecast held that day. Specifically, the one-year tranche drew 290 billion won against a 50 billion won target, the 18-month tranche drew 464 billion won against 30 billion won, and the two-year tranche drew 233 billion won against 20 billion won. Based on the demand forecast results, SK Ecoplant is considering an increased issuance of up to 20 billion won.
Funding costs are also expected to be significantly reduced. After adding minus 30 to plus 30 basis points (1bp=0.01 percentage point) to the fair market yield (a company's individual rate set by private bond rating agencies), the one-year and 18-month tranches filled their targets at minus 36bp and minus 70bp, respectively, while the two-year tranche filled at minus 61bp.
SK Ecoplant plans to use the funds raised through this issuance for debt repayment. The bond issuance was managed by SK Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, Kiwoom Securities, NH Investment & Securities, Hana Securities and Shinhan Securities. Woori Financial F&I's corporate bond credit rating is A-, classified as non-investment grade.
SK Ecoplant is tightening its grip on strengthening profitability and financial stability by restructuring its business around AI infrastructure, including semiconductor fabrication plants (FABs), artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, and semiconductor materials and gas supply. In the first quarter of this year, it posted revenue of 4.8997 trillion won and operating profit of 931.4 billion won on a consolidated basis. Its debt ratio was 176% in the first quarter of this year, down from 192% at the end of last year.
"The reflection of earnings from the strong semiconductor market conditions and the full-scale realization of revenue from large projects such as the Yongin semiconductor cluster, Cheongju M15X, and the Ulsan AI data center drove the earnings improvement," an SK Ecoplant official said.
