Britain's
largest specialist buy-to-let mortgage lender and consumer finance group Paragon has closed the offer period for its latest retail bond early following
a “very positive” response from investors.
At the time of the launch of the bond on 14th January, Paragon Chief
Executive, Nigel Terrington, was bullish about the prospects for the Group
following its achievement of £100m of profits for the first time in 2013 and in
light of encouraging signs from the housing market and the prospect of a return
to consumer lending.
When pushed for an objective for the issue, Mr Terrington said that no
target figure had been set for what is the second issue by the Group, but
suggested that a similar figure to the £60m raised by the first ‘is in our
minds and would be a good target level to get to’.
Target more than doubled
In fact, the issue raised more than double that figure, raising £125m by
offering unsecured notes with a coupon of 6.125% and a maturity date of January
2022.
In clear testimony to demand from retail investors and the increasing
attraction of the ORB market, the offer period closed at 10am today (23rd
January), well ahead of the scheduled close at 5pm on 27 January.
Mr Terrington, said: “We are delighted
with the success of our second retail bond. We have received a very positive
response from investors demonstrating the attractiveness of Paragon and the
growth opportunities for our business. This bond complements our already strong
balance sheet, allows us to diversify our funding base and extend the tenor of
our debt maturities.”
The
FTSE 250 group posted record profits of £105m in its end of year report, which
was published in November 2013.
This
morning its shares were up 0.6% at 358p