JPMorgan Chase & Co has sold a record-setting $13 billion (AU$16.8 billion) worth of bonds in what was the largest bond deal ever by a bank, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reports a person close to last Thursday’s bond transaction said the longest portion of the five-part offering, a 31-year security, will yield 107 basis points above Treasuries.
Proceeds are marked for general corporate purposes while JPMorgan is the sole bookrunner of the sale.
The Bloomberg data also shows JPMorgan’s $US10 billion offering in April last year was the previous largest sale by a bank.
Prior to the bond sale, JPMorgan said it earned $14.3 billion in the first three months of the year – the equivalent of $4.50 per share.
JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said: “With all of the stimulus spending, potential infrastructure spending, continued quantitative easing, strong consumer and business balance sheets and euphoria around the potential end of the pandemic, we believe that the economy has the potential to have extremely robust, multi-year growth.”
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In his annual letter to shareholders, Dimon said “2020 was an extraordinary year by any measure”.
“It was a year of a global pandemic, a global recession, unprecedented government actions, turbulent elections, and deeply felt social and racial injustice.
“2020 was another strong year for JPMorgan Chase, with the firm generating record revenue, as well as numerous other records in each of our lines of business.
“We earned $29.1 billion in net income on revenue of $122.9 billion versus $36.4 billion on revenue of $118.5 billion in 2019, reflecting strong underlying performance across our businesses offset by additional reserves under new accounting rules.
“We generally grew market share across our businesses and continued to make significant investments in products, people and technology, all while maintaining credit discipline and a fortress balance sheet.
“In total, we extended credit and raised $2.3 trillion in capital for businesses, institutional clients and U.S. customers.”
