United Bank for Africa (UBA’s) N30.5 billion bond has been listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Nigeria’s premier debt capital Securities Exchange, the Financial Market Dealers Quotation, Over-the-Counter (FMDQ-OTC) market.
The dual listing was done on Wednesday, April 8.
Listing on the NSE provides opportunity for retail investors to take advantage of the fixed return on investment grade Notes, through the primary market. Listing on the FMDQ provides a secondary market platform for institutional and foreign investors to trade UBA Bond.
UBA Bond is the first corporate bond to be admitted on the FMDQ platform and the first of its kind on a fixed income OTC in Africa.
FMDQ-OTC Chief Executive Officer, Bola Koko, commended UBA for being a pioneer in the market and reiterated the FMDQ’s commitment to the development of the Nigerian financial markets, through registration, listing, quotation, and valuation of bonds.
He said the benefits of listing on the FMDQ include “global visibility and transparency, improved secondary market liquidity, price formation and benchmark pricing thus resulting to a more globally competitive capital market.”
In December last year, UBA raised N30.5 billion Tier-II capital through the issuance of Seven-Year Fixed Rate Unsecured Notes, maturing in 2021.
“The bond issue was the biggest and most successful in 2014. The success recorded at a time of uncertainty in the capital market was largely due to the credibility and strength of the UBA brand,” explained Oluwatoyin Sanni, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of United Capital and Issuers to the Bond.
UBA Group Managing Director/CEO, Phillips Oduoza, expressed delight that UBA Bond is the first to list on the FMDQ.
“We were the first Nigerian bank to do an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Nigerian Stock Exchange after successfully listing in 1971. We were also the first to issue Global Depository Receipts (GDR) in 1998.
“We are always willing to explore new frontiers in our quest to have an efficient market that meets our developmental needs,” he said.
The UBA Group is a diversified financial services provider and one of the largest financial institutions in Africa, with presence in New York, Paris and London.
“We will utilise the proceeds of the bond issue for long term commercial and retail sector lending as well as the expansion of our delivery channels to provide efficient banking services to our customers.”
Oduoza said UBA is committed to building a long term and sustainable business that will ensure proper utilisation of the bond issue which will in return grow market share and profitability.
