“Dollar Loan Difficulty”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31154, 2 September 1966, Page 3

“Dollar Loan Difficulty”

(N.Z.P.A. Reuter—Copyright)

LONDON, September 1.

The New Zealand loan for 15 million U.S. dollars now being arranged through the European capital market has come at a somewhat unhappy moment, according to “The Times.”

“August and September are notoriously quiet months for new issue business on the Continent.” the newspaper said today. “This time the flow of international offers has been maintained rather better than usual because so many wouldbe borrowers are jostling one another to come to the market. “But the recent weakness on most major stock exchanges has made the capital raising more difficult, and more expensive.

“Sponsors of the New Zea-

land loan have had to recognise this. “New Zealand has an exceptionally fine investment name on the Continent, as well as in Britain and across the Atlantic. Yet the indicated terms for the new bonds will provide a yield of almost 7 per cent to final redemption in 1981. “And to judge by current market prices for other recent Euro-dollar loans, even those terms may not ensure that the bonds find their way quickly into more or less permanent investment portfolios. “The selling organisations sponsoring recent issues appear to be having some difficulty in disposing of their bonds—including convertible stocks —to long-term. investors, and market prices are generally at a discount”