Bucharest, June 15th, 2022 – Banca Comercială Română (BCR) has successfully printed a new senior green non-preferred bond issuance of RON 702 million, continuing its strategy towards expanding its financing sources and contributing to the development of the capital market in Romania.
This new green bond issuance is part of the company’s journey in the direction of the ESG (Environmental, Social Governance) criteria, with the aim to build a sustainable economic development, encourage environmentally responsible behaviour and reduce social inequities.
The bank has printed in the three past years an amount of RON 3.75 billion in bond issuances, being one the most active issuers on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
The issuance represents the second green bond issuance, in senior non-preferred format, with a 5-year maturity, while plans are for it to be listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The notes have been assigned an long-term rating of BBB+ by Fitch.
The book building process has shown strong interest from investors, hence the deal size was increased from minimum RON 350 million to RON 702 million, while the yield of 95 bps over the benchmark, translating into a coupon of 9.079%, also reflecting the solid performance of the bank. The distribution was balanced between pension funds, asset managers, insurance companies, credit institutions and benefited from the notable participation of International Finance Corporation (IFC) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
"We remain consistent and extend our commitment to issue green bonds, as part of our vision for sustainable and long-term transformation of the Romanian economy. Investors are increasingly paying attention to the resources they choose to support and we are pleased to see this concern increasingly present in Romania. It is a sign of responsibility and, at the same time, of confidence in the capital market, even in a difficult international context", stated Sergiu Manea, CEO of BCR.
The bond issuance has shown its early success when, at the end of the first subscription day, the order book continued to grow above RON 500 million, well above the minimum issue size of RON 350 million initially communicated. On the second day the order book was heavily oversubscribed, leading to the decision to close the book early and to increase the issued amount to RON 702 million. The final volume also reflects our commitment to the market in terms of future issuance plans and our firm intention of building a relationship of trust with our investors.
With this issuance, BCR took another step forward towards the compliance with the EU regulations on the minimum capacity that banks must have in order to absorb the losses, the Minimum Requirements of own funds and Eligible Liabilities (MREL) and MREL guidelines in line with targeted resolution strategy.
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Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), a member of Erste Group, is the most important financial group in Romania, including operations of universal bank (retail, corporate & investment banking, treasury and capital markets), as well as specialized companies on the leasing market, private pensions, housing banks and banking services.
BCR provides a full range of financial products and services, through a network of 18 business centers and 16 mobile offices dedicated to businesses, as well as 323 retail units in most towns with over 10,000 inhabitants across the country. BCR is the number 1 bank in Romania on the banking transactions market, as BCR clients have access to an extended national ATM and multifunctional terminal network – 1,700 units, and complete banking services via Internet banking, Mobile banking, Phone-banking and E-commerce.
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BCR – Corporate Communication
Catalin Ionita, e-mail: catalin.ionita@bcr.ro
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