United Overseas Bank Limited has priced floating-rate covered bonds amounting to £750 million (US$988.38 million), the 12th series under its US$15 billion global covered bond programme.

The three-year bonds, expected to be issued on September 13, were priced at the Sterling Overnight Index Average (Sonia) rate plus 53bp per annum payable quarterly.

The final order book of over £1 billion from 20 investors is the largest for UOB in GBP covered bonds, allowing the bank to tighten pricing and upsize the transaction. The Singaporean lender says the strong outcome is a testament to its robust credit quality.

Of the investors, 81% are from the United Kingdom, 18% from Asia, and the remaining 1% from other markets. They include banks, 51%; fund managers, 31%; central banks, official institutions and insurance firms, 11%; and others, 7%.

UOB is the first non-UK bank to access the GBP covered bond market post-summer, to take advantage of the strong demand for front-end covered bonds.

"We were glad to be back to engage the covered bond market, and heartened to see the continued strong reception towards UOB credit and the Singapore covered bond by global investors,” says Koh Chin Chin, head of group treasury, research and customer advocacy at UOB.

The payment of the principal and interests is guaranteed by Glacier Eighty.

The bonds are expected to be rated Aaa by Moody’s Investors Service and AAA by Standard and Poor’s Rating Services.

UOB, BNP Paribas, UBS London Branch, Société Générale, and HSBC Bank have been appointed as joint lead managers for the covered bonds.