Companies Loaded '122 Trillion Won' in Ammo in First Half of This Year... Corporate Bonds for Facility Investment Jumped Twofold

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] In the first half of this year, the scale of direct financing raised by companies through stocks and corporate bonds reached a record high of 122.7661 trillion won.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 20th, domestic companies issued stocks worth 12.6361 trillion won and corporate bonds worth 110.13 trillion won in the first half of this year, increasing the scale of direct financing by 31.2539 trillion won compared to the previous year.

Stock issuance expanded nearly sixfold compared to the first half of last year (2.153 trillion won) due to a booming stock market, with a surge in initial public offerings (IPOs) and paid-in capital increases by listed large corporations. In the case of IPOs, 49 cases were made, including 4 on the KOSPI and 45 on the KOSDAQ, increasing by 2.1063 trillion won compared to the same period last year (24 cases, 1.0693 trillion won). The KOSPI (2.0977 trillion won), which had a large proportion of major IPOs such as SK Bioscience and SK IETech (SKIET) that attracted record-breaking subscription deposits, surpassed the KOSDAQ (1.0779 trillion won).

Paid-in capital increases also became active mainly among KOSPI large corporations such as Korean Air (3.3 trillion won), POSCO Chemical (1.3 trillion won), Hanwha Solutions (1.3 trillion won), and Hanwha Systems (1.2 trillion won), raising 9.4605 trillion won through 31 cases. This is an increase of 8.3768 trillion won (773.0%) compared to the same period last year (14 cases, 1.0837 trillion won).

Corporate bond issuance in the first half of this year also reached 89.3592 trillion won. This was a measure to secure funds in advance in preparation for rising interest rates, increasing by 20.7708 trillion won compared to one year ago. In particular, the proportion of corporate bonds issued for facility fund procurement (5.4788 trillion won) nearly doubled to 17.8% compared to 9.7% in the first half of last year. The purpose of refinancing significantly decreased from 70.4% to 55.2%.

Financial bonds amounted to 1,145 cases and 71.5825 trillion won, a 37.3% increase compared to the same period last year. Among them, financial holding company bonds (42 cases, 6.076 trillion won) increased by only 3%, while bank bonds (94 cases, 22.245 trillion won) increased by 56.9%. Commercial banks issued 19.715 trillion won, and regional banks issued 2.53 trillion won, expanding issuance scale by 53.3% and 91.7%, respectively. Credit card companies, installment finance companies, securities firms, and other financial companies all expanded issuance scale, increasing other financial bonds by 34.9%.

The outstanding balance of corporate bonds at the end of the first half of this year was 607.8259 trillion won, an increase of 61.5379 trillion won (11.3%) compared to the end of June last year (546.288 trillion won).

During this period, commercial papers (CP) and short-term bonds were issued totaling 759.1576 trillion won, with CP at 181.8212 trillion won and short-term bonds at 577.3363 trillion won, an increase of 81.5838 trillion won compared to the same period last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.