Bank CenterCredit floated debut eurobond issue for $200 m.

/INTERFAX-KAZAKHSTAN, Almaty, February 15, 05/ - Bank CenterCredit (BCC) has floated the debut issue of three-year eurobonds for a total of $200 m. on the international capital markets. This year BCC in association with Citigroup has made rather big success having successfully floated eurobonds for a total of $200 m. on the markets of Europe, South-East Asia and USA. By making this deal BCC received access to the new market of capital, and to investors", - said Vladislav Lee BCC's chairman of the executive committee at the press-conference on Tuesday in Almaty, having marked that Citigroup, acted as the major manager of the deal, co-organizers were Alpha Bank, Bank Zenit OJSC, Moscow Narodny Bank Ltd. and Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft. According to BCC's head, fixed coupon rate on eurobonds totaled 8% APR. Lee says the bank was "nicely surprised by the rather big volume of bids for BCC's eurobonds". As he says, demand of 59 investors reached before the beginning of pricing about $300 m. According to his data, 44% of total issue volume were bought by investors from Asia, 22% - Switzerland, 11% - Great Britain, 7% - Greece, 5% - USA, and also 12% - among other European countries. Investor base was represented by "private banks" (50%), asset management companies (24%) and commercial banks and Trust companies (26%). Thus, BCC's has said, eurobond issue corresponds to bank's intention to diversify the funding base and will be used for financing clients' loans, and also general corporate aims, including BCC's liquidity management. Speaking about the planned borrowings on international markets, Lee said in the second half of the year BCC planned to borrow a syndicated loan from foreign investors. He has said, taking into account the floated eurobonds total volume of bank's external obligations was about $600 m. Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Services assigned Ва1/В+ long term ratings to this eurobond issue, outlook is "positive". BCC is one of five largest Kazakhstan banks. As of January 1 of 2005 bank had 19 branches and 97 cash-settlement offices on the whole territory of Kazakhstan. Bank also has Ва1 long-term rating on bank deposits in foreign currency assigned by Moody's Investors Service. According to results of 2004 BCC got net income totaling KZT2.4 bn. (current 130.25/$1) having increased this indicator 1.9 times in comparison with year 2003. BCC's assets grew in 2004 by 80% to KZT148.5 bn., loan portfolio - by 77% to KZT94 bn. Bank's equity capital grew in the analyzed year by 64% and equaled by January 1 of 2005 to KZT17.6 bn. [2005-02-15]