(Oct 21): Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has sent requests seeking bankers’ proposals for a potential dollar bond offering, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be the Malaysian oil firm’s first such sale in over three years. 

The state-owned company will hire investment banks in the coming weeks if it plans to go ahead with a deal, said the people who declined to be named as the information was private, without offering other details. Petronas didn’t respond to an emailed request seeking comment.

Petronas, which will face its biggest debt-maturity wall in 2025, has been absent from the dollar debt market since it sold a US$3 billion (RM12.91 billion) dual-tranche bond in 2021. Its interest in a new offering also comes as risk premiums on Asia’s investment-grade dollar notes have dropped to near record-low levels. 

The energy firm and its units have combined debt worth the equivalent of more than US$22 billion, with the biggest annual repayment of over US$3.7 billion due next year, Bloomberg-compiled data showed.

Petronas last month posted a 19% decline in first-half net income due to higher taxes and a shrinking of its asset base. Capital expenditure rose 20% year-on-year during the same period, according to a company earnings presentation.

Higher capital investment in upstream reserves and new businesses could weigh on Petronas’ bond spreads, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mary Ellen Olson wrote in a note earlier this month. Still, she sees Petronas as “a safe-haven credit” backed by strong liquidity and a track record of state support.

The Malaysian oil company’s interest in raising new debt comes as risk premiums on Asian high-grade dollar bonds have declined for five consecutive weeks, the biggest such stretch since February. As a result, yield spreads have narrowed to 78 basis points over comparable Treasuries, a touch above May’s record low of about 75 basis points.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee