The largest banks have headed the rating of the organizers of the placement of bonds
The first quarter of 2025 was successful for Russian investment banks working in the debt market. According to Cbonds, bankers held 136 market placements (excluding their own) by 1.35 trillion rubles, which is more than half as much as the result of the same period of 2024. More than 76% of the total market was provided by the five largest organizers led by Gazprombank. In the nearest quarters, investment activity will remain high due to the need of issuers to refinance debts.
In the ranking of the largest accommodation organizers, noticeable changes occurred. According to CBONDS, the championship following the first quarter of 2025 in terms of market placements of corporate bonds (excluding its own issues) was retained by Gazprombank. During the reporting period, the bank participated in the organization of 92 issues for 292.4 billion rubles. Second place with a result of 217 billion rubles. Alfa-Bank occupied, a year earlier the bank was on the fifth line. From the fourth position to the third with a result of almost 200 billion rubles. VTB Capital Trading came out. In total, for the reporting period, 136 market placements were carried out by almost 1.35 trillion rubles, which is more than twice as high as the result of the first quarter of 2024.
One of the trends was the consolidation of the market share in the hands of the largest accommodation organizers. According to the results of the reporting period, more than 76% of the total capital attracted by issuers in the debt market accounted for the TOP-5 company. This is 22.5 percentage points above the indicator of the same period of 2024. The reason is the access to the debt market of the first echelon companies that traditionally resort to the services of the largest banks. According to the chief analyst of the debt markets of the Region BC Alexander Ermak, in the first quarter about 52.1% of the total amounted to 20 large transactions with a volume of more than 30 billion rubles. “Over 72% of large transactions accounted for 17 issues of real sector companies, which was represented by five industries: oil and gas, railway transport, metallurgy, chemistry and fertilizer, retail,” Mr. Ermak notes.
In addition, since the beginning of the year, the number of placements of currency bonds has increased, in which companies of the real sector of the economy also dominated (see Kommersant on April 30). Artem Starikov, head of the debt capital of Alfa-Bank, notes that on placements in foreign currency, only a few banks can provide underwriting. According to Kommersant, the largest organizers participated in two -thirds of all transactions held in the first quarter of more than $ 1.8 billion (in equivalent).
Despite the sharp increase in the volume of placements, the bankers do not expect comparable growth of remuneration. According to the head of the Department of Capital Bank of Robert Smakaev, the amount of remuneration more often depends on market volatility and the complexity of the transaction. The higher the risks and instability of the market, the higher the commission can be requested by the organizer. “The commission is affected by competition among banks, the credit quality of the issuer and the amount of necessary work: from preparing documentation to interaction with investors,” says Robert Smakaev. According to him, the average commission in the market for the organization of bond placements varies within the range of 0.5–1%, without taking into account the premium for success. Work on transactions is underway for a long time and, depending on the conjuncture, can stretch for months, as well as the reward received for this. “Some transactions are structured for the specific tasks of the issuer, and some are simply within the framework of regular involvement, working with emitatoes familiar to the market and working on the debutant is not the same process,” said Eduard Dzhabarov, head of the Sberbank capital, “do not focus on the quarter indicators of ranging, and it is better to wait results « .
Despite the persistent tough monetary policy of the Bank of Russia, bankers with optimism look at the prospects of the second and subsequent quarters. Robert Smakaev said that large transactions are being prepared, while we are talking about both new issues and refinancing previously placed bonds. “The needs of companies in financing and refinancing have not gone away,” says Mr. Dzhabarov.
