An outlet of the F88 pawn shop chain on Ha Noi's Ba Trieu Street. F88 plans to raise VND200 billion in corporate bonds. — Photo f88.vn

Ha Noi-based pawn shop chain F88 announced it has just completed its first bond issuance in 2020 with a value of nearly VND50 billion (US$2.15 million).

This is the first issuance by F88 within the plan to raise VND200 billion through corporate bonds.

The bonds issued are non-convertible bonds with terms of 12 months and real interest rates of 12.5 per cent. Bondholders receive bond coupons every three months.

F88 said its plan to raise VND200 billion in corporate bonds was in consultation with MB Securities JSC and divided into three issuances. Bond buyers are mainly domestic investors.

The company said the proceeds from the issuances would be entirely spent on supplementing working capital, expanding the network of transaction offices, aiming to raise the number of transaction offices to 300 by 2020.

F88 started to thrive in 2017 after receiving capital from Mekong Capital and Granite Oak.

So far, the company has put into operation 145 transaction offices in 10 provinces and cities, an increase of more than three times compared to 2018.

In 2019, F88 reported accumulated disbursements of VND1.5 trillion and is expected to disburse nearly VND3 trillion in 2020, doubling compared to 2019. — VNS