Signet Bank maintains its leading position for the second year in a row in the Latvian bond issue market

According to Nasdaq CSD and Bloomberg data for 2023, Signet Bank has retained its position as the leading arranger in the Latvian corporate bond market for the second year in a row, both in terms of the volume of arranged bond issues and the number of transactions. In 2023, the volume of arranged bond issues by Signet Bank in the Latvian market accounted for approximately 57% of the total market.

In 2023, Signet Bank organised nine Latvian corporate bond issues, raising a total of EUR 181 million in additional financing for local corporate development. According to Signet Bank’s data, in 2023, 24 bond issues of local companies were organised in Latvia, raising EUR 318 million in financing. The funding was raised to implement development projects, refinance existing financial liabilities and clean up the capital structure.

We are pleased with the positive results for the second year in a row. In 2024, we will continue to provide Latvian companies with access to sustainable financing and promote the development of the business environment through capital market instruments.

Roberts Idelsons, Chairman of the Board of Signet Bank

The Latvian bond market has shown more activity in 2023 than in 2022, at the expense of private sector companies, as state-owned companies last year showed the lowest capital market activity in recent years.

Although there is lower activity from state-owned companies, which have always been active bond issuers, the private, corporate segment is increasingly starting to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the capital market, resulting in a 30% increase in Latvian corporate bond issuance activity in 2023 compared to a year earlier. In addition to the traditional financial sector, more and more companies from the manufacturing, services, real estate and construction sectors are issuing bonds, in many cases also replacing existing bank loans with bond issues.

Edmunds Antufjevs, Head of Investment Management at Signet Bank

About Signet Bank

Signet Bank was founded in 1991 and is one of Latvia’s first independent banks. The bank’s strategy focuses on providing financing and capital management services to local entrepreneurs and their businesses. Since the start of 2021, Signet Bank has provided customers with almost EUR 500 million of financing in the form of loans and bonds. Signet Bank’s shareholders are nine Latvian and international private investors, of whom the biggest is Signet Acquisition III (25%), whose sole shareholder is US investor Aleksandrs Solovejs; AS RIT Group (19.50 %), a Latvian company owned by the Rapoport family, and SIA Reglink (15.93 %), founded by banker Irīna Pīgozne.