Coventry bond issue oversubscribed

Coventry Building Society has secured £350 million in long-term funding from the financial.

The 10-year bond, only the second to be issued successfully by a UK building society since the start of the credit crunch, was heavily oversubscribed by city investors.

Rob Green, Coventry Building Society's finance director, said: "I am delighted that there was such demand for this bond - we actually had orders for £600 million in just two hours. It shows that investors recognise the strength of the Coventry's financial position and the quality of our lending."

The society has remained A rated by both Fitch and Moody's throughout the credit crisis. Its reported results for the first half of 2009 showed profit after tax increased to £31.1m (2008 first half year: £25.1m), arrears were one third of the Council of Mortgage Lenders average, and efficiency, judged by a cost to mean asset ratio of only 0.39%, was the best of any UK building society.

Rob Green continued. "In these tough market conditions it is good to see investors regaining confidence. Our strong asset quality and ongoing profitability have obviously reassured investors that Coventry remains a safe bet for the long term."