Domestic debt market has a strong June quarter
More than US$30 billion of transactions were completed in the Australian corporate finance market in the June quarter, which was more than twice the value of transactions in the first quarter according to the latest KPMG Debt Markets Update.KPMG said the value of transactions in the June quarter was the fifth highest on record.Activity was led by the US$7.8 billion Roy Hill project financing, which was completed in April, the acquisition of the Port of Newcastle, which was led by Hastings Funds Management, and the purchase of QML by Transurban, ADIA and AusSuper.Other significant deals included the refinancing of APT Pipeline, and CDPT Finance refinancing.KPMG said that because most of the significant deals were refinancings there was weak overall credit growth.The increasing number of lenders seeking exposure to the Australian credit market resulted in downward pricing pressure and improvement in terms. For example, margins for BBB-rated corporate bond issuers have fallen from around 300 basis points in June 2012 to below 150 bps today.KPMG said the Australian bond market continued its development as an alternative to the bank market, with a number of significant transactions. These included issues by the Port of Brisbane, Qantas and both the University of Sydney and University of Melbourne.