S. Korean corporate bond sales more than double in H1

SEOUL, July 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's corporate bond issuance more than doubled in the first half of this year from a year earlier as firms scurried to raise working capital amid an economic downturn, a securities depository said Thursday.

Local companies sold a total of 48.52 trillion won (US$39.5 billion) worth of
debts in the January-June period, up 118.4 percent from the same period last
year, according to a report by the Korea Securities Depository.
Companies redeemed 15.54 trillion won worth of debts during the six months,
bringing the net bond sale to 32.97 trillion won, the depository said.
The bulk of the debt financing was aimed at securing working capital as the
economic slowdown weighed on their earnings.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., a state-run power company, was the biggest bond
seller with 1.1 trillion won, trailed by telecom giant KT Corp. with 930 billion
won, it said.