DUAL-LISTED environmental services group China Everbright Water on Wednesday said the one billion yuan (S$197.1 million) first tranche of its medium-term notes issue was 2.01 times subscribed by institutional investors in the interbank bond market in China.

 

The notes, which were issued on Monday and Tuesday, have a maturity period of three years and an interest rate of 3.6 per cent.

 

The mainboard-listed company will use the proceeds to replenish the working capital of its subsidiaries, it said in a bourse filing.

 

Executive director and chief executive of China Everbright Water An Xuesong said that the first tranche notes issue would help the company " optimise its financing structure and keep its financial costs within a reasonable range" .

 

China Everbright Water will continue to monitor changes in the market environment closely, and issue the remaining tranche(s) " according to capital demands and market conditions" , he added.

 

Mr An said that the notes issue would further diversify the company' s financing channels. Last month, it issued 300 million yuan in asset-backed securities to qualified investors in mainland China. 

 

The medium-term notes and company have each been given a AAA rating by the Shanghai Brilliance Credit Rating & Investors Service. Bank of China and Guosen Securities will act as underwriters.

 

In April, China Everbright Water got the green light from China' s interbank market regulator to issue three billion yuan worth of medium-term notes. The notes will be valid for two years from April 24, 2020.

 

In June, it proposed and then cancelled plans to issue a first tranche of 1.2 billion yuan notes, citing " volatile conditions" in the Chinese bond market. It said then that the move was to control financing costs.