▲ The Korea Securities Depository building in Seoul (Yonhap)

equity-linked bonds-Q1 tally

Value of equity-linked bonds switched to stocks up over fourfold in Q1: data

SEOUL, April 16 (Yonhap) -- The value of equity-linked bonds converted into stocks during the first quarter more than quadrupled from a year earlier amid the local stock market's bullish run, industry data showed Thursday.

The total value came to 1.77 trillion won (US$1.2 billion) during the January-March period, up 336.5 percent from the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

Compared with the previous quarter, the number of convertible rights exercised fell slightly by 0.9 percent, but their combined value rose 19.2 percent, according to the data.

Equity-linked bonds are debt instruments that offer investors an option to acquire shares of the issuer or another company.

Investors appeared to have switched the bonds for equities instead of keeping them until maturity amid the South Korean stock market's continued bull run, the KSD said.

By type, the value of exchangeable bonds (EBs), which can be exchanged for existing shares of the issuer, that were switched to stocks jumped 351.5 percent on-year to 860.2 billion won in the three-month period.

The figure for convertible bonds (CBs), or bonds that can be traded for new shares from the issuer, came to 786.8 billion won, up 290.6 percent from a year earlier.

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