THE GREEK LOAN.
In contrast to the extraordinary success of the Ford issue must be set the poor response given to the Greek Loan. At the same time, there is nothing inconsistent in the two experkaices. I have already explained that much of the success of the Ford issue was due to the eagerness of American buyers which encouraged expectations amongst premium hunters. With the Greek Loan, however, although the terms were sufficiently favourable in the matter of the yield to the genuine investor, there was little to go for in the shape of an immediate premium and consequently, with markets in a dull condition, it was no matter for surprise that the public should have only responded for about one-fourth of the issue, the underwriters taking up about 76 per cent. As a consequence, dealings were reported after the allotment letteni had been issued at about 2 per cent. discount, which means a yield to the investor of not much less than 7 per cent. At any such level, the Bonds form quite a good security of the " foreign invest- ment class " as the hypothecated revenues are very large and in various ways the prospectus showed that the interests of the bondholders were thoroughly safeguarded.
Previous page
