Lloyds TSB unveils 5.5 per cent bond for retail investors
LLOYDS TSB launched a five-year corporate bond for retail investors yesterday, following its first offering to private bond investors last June.
The bonds will pay 5.5 per cent interest at a fixed rate until the notes mature in September 2016. Lloyds and Royal Bank of Canada are underwriting the scheme.
Lloyds expects to raise at least £50m from the bonds, which will be offered to individuals for a minimum investment of £1,000 with £100 units above this, as part of its scheme to issue £50bn of European medium term notes.
Killik & Co senior partner Paul Killik said yesterday: “The retail bond market offers welcome relief to investors and savers struggling to find similar returns elsewhere.
“We applaud companies like Lloyds that are helping to recreate an active bond market for private investors to put them on a par with institutional investors.”
The bank said the notes will be eligible for trading on the London Stock Exchange’s electronic order book for retail bonds, which was launched in February last year to give individuals better access to investment products.
Seven new bonds have been introduced for the new platform in the year since launch, with companies including Tesco, John Lewis and Provident Financial entering the market. Lloyds TSB’s first corporate bond for retail investors, launched in June with a 5.375 per cent interest rate and £100 unit price, now changes hands for £103.25 per unit.