Debt securities, 2013

In 2013, bonds were issued for NOK 407 billion in Norway. Compared with 2012, the value of the issues of bonds rose by 10 per cent. In the same period, repayments of bonds were registered for a total of NOK 290 billion.

Mortgage companies still dominate the domestic bond market

By groups of issuers, mortgage companies dominated the market with NOK 85.2 billion in 2013. The second largest amount of bond issues in 2013, NOK 83.7 billion, referred to banks. The third largest amount of issues, NOK 81.0 billion, referred to central government and social security funds. As previously, a considerable share of the issues, NOK 53.9 billion, referred to the rest of the world.

Continuous increase in bond debt with various types of security

The nominal value of the outstanding debt from bonds issued in Norway at the end of 2013 amounted to NOK 1637.9 billion; an increase of 8 per cent compared with the end of 2012.

The debts from bonds issued in Norway have various types of security. Forty per cent of the debts at the end of 2013 referred to unsecured loans. Two per cent and 19 per cent of the debts referred to subordinated loans and bonds guaranteed by general government respectively. Thirty-one per cent of the debts referred to covered bonds. The rest of the bond debts have various other types of security.

Increase of bonds issued by ‘rest of the world’

Thirty-two per cent and 19 per cent of the bond debt at the end of 2013 referred to mortgage companies and banks respectively. In comparison, their part of the bond debt at the end of 2012 was 34 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. Central government’s share of the debt at the end of the year was 18 per cent. The rest of the world’s share of the debt increased from 12 per cent at the end of 2012 to 14 per cent at the end of 2013.

Growth in market values over the last two years

While the market value of the domestic bond debt was lower than the nominal value in the period 2008-2010, the situation has been the opposite since 2011. The market value of the domestic bond debt was 102 per cent of the nominal value at the end of both 2012 and 2013. This value refers to both listed and unlisted bonds, which may be priced differently. At the end of 2013, the market value of the listed bond debt was 102.7 per cent of the nominal value, while the market value of the unlisted bond debt was 98.4 per cent of the nominal value.

The market values were generally lower than the nominal values of bonds issued by private non-financial corporations, mortgage companies and investment trusts and private equity funds. For other bonds, the market values were generally higher than the nominal values.

Table: Bonds issued in Norway per 31 December 2013. Sorted by ISIN (xls-file)