Deposit rate news briefs
Allied hones in on Prime target, Forsyth Barr SAILS in with new offer, Kiwibank’s rating confirmed, Western Bay improves position.
Friday, May 19th 2006, 3:30AM
Allied hones in on Prime target
Allied Farmers' takeover of Prime Finance is progressing at a steady clip, with the Hawera-based rural services firm securing 72.08%. [[More]
]
Forsyth SAILS in with new offer
Forsyth Barr and Caylon, Credit Agricole's corporate and investment bank division, will launch $100 million of fixed rate notes to the New Zealand market.
The notes, called credit saleable index linked securities, have an annual interest rate of 8.5% and will be linked to the performance of two investment grade indices covering Europe and North America.
The notes are expected to be issued in early June and listed on the NZ Stock Exchange's debt market.
Forsyth Barr has underwritten the issue to the extent of $65m and is the lead manager for the issue.
Kiwibank’s rating confirmed
Standard & Poor's Ratings has affirmed its AA-ratings on Kiwibank.
"NZ Post's retail banking business, Kiwibank, continues to show strong growth in line with our expectations, consistent with NZ Post's AA- rating," S&P analyst Jain added.
Kiwibank's ratings reflect strong explicit support provided by NZ Post in the form of an undated, unconditional guarantee covering all of the bank's obligations. The guarantee can be withdrawn at three months' notice, but creditors are protected by a "grandparenting" provision. Standard & Poor's views the New Zealand government as currently supportive of Kiwibank, although this support may vary with any government change.
Western Bay improves position
Western Bay Finance has reported an unaudited annual operating surplus of more than $1 million before tax, however this figure includes a one-off gain by the inclusion of the value of its bad-debt ledger for the first time.
Director Jim Smylie says after the September 2005 half-year result of $22,000, “prudent and immediate management initiatives were put in place to improve profit margins.”
It closed five branches, consolidated staff levels and introduced more stringent credit controls.
Smylie says that the new credit control structure has already resulted in a lowering of the company's provision for doubtful debts.
Western Bay’s average loan size is $7000.
| « Provincial Finance stops accepting new investments | Provincial talks to South Canterbury » |
Special Offers
Commenting is closed
|
|
Printable version |
|
Email to a friend |
