Kazkommertsbank repays $500-million Eurobond

Kazkommertsbank (KKB) has repaid a $500-million Eurobond at maturity using its own funds, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We hope that the international investor community will see this as a positive development as confidence increases in Kazkommertsbank and the Kazakh banking sector in general,” Kazkommertsbank CEO Nina Zhusupova was quoted in the statement.

KKB announced in September it had bought back a total of $76 million of the $500-million Eurobond bond in the market, at an average price of 91.8 cents on the dollar.

Some analysts have feared that Kazkommertsbank could follow the example of BTA Bank and Alliance Bank, two large local banks that defaulted on their bonds earlier this year. The repayment should soothe the nerves of investors and provide a boost to the Kazakh banking sector.

By SRI