Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) is gauging demand for its first bond offering since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear calamity, with some market participants expecting a sale as early as February, according to Reuters.
Investors are no more doubtful and nowadays they are much more comfortable with the utility’s outlook after government moves to reassess decommissioning and compensation costs, bankers and investors who asked not to be identified told Thomson Reuters DealWatch.
Tepco (9501.T) is likely to have to pay investors a 1 percentage point premium above Japanese government bonds, considered a rich yield pick-up, as potential buyers see an implicit government guarantee for the basically nationalized company.
The company was in discussions last year with investors to sell as much as 330 billion yen ($2.8 billion) of bonds.
A Tepco spokesman said the company plans to issue bonds by the end of March but declined to comment on specific target dates or sizes.