SEOUL, Corporate direct financing in South Korea surged more than 20 percent from a month earlier in April on a sharp increase in bond issuance, data showed Tuesday. Local companies raised a combined 24.6 trillion won (US$18.1 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 20.1 percent from the previous month, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks and other financial institutions. Stock issuances plunged 63.1 percent to 703 billion won last month from 1.9 trillion won in March, with rights offerings plummeting 91.7 percent to 145.4 billion won from 1.76 trillion won over the cited period, according to the financial regulator. Bond sales soared 28.6 percent on-month to 23.9 trillion won from 18.6 trillion won. As of end-April, the value of outstanding corporate bonds stood at 657.3 trillion won, up 1.4 trillion won from a month earlier. In April, local firms issued 35.9 trillion won worth of commercial papers, up 8.6 trillion won from the previous month, while they also issued 69.7 trillion won worth of short-term bonds, up from 63.2 trillion won issued in March. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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