Citigroup Issues $1.25 Billion of Bonds in First Since February

Citigroup Inc. (C), the third-biggest U.S. lender, sold $1.25 billion of three-year notes in its first dollar-denominated benchmark offering in five months.

The 2.25 percent debt yields 205 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The bonds are expected to be rated Baa2, the second-lowest level of investment grade, by Moody’s Investors Service, Bloomberg data show. Citigroup also sold a $500 million add-on offering to its 4.5 percent notes due January 2022.

The bank last issued new dollar benchmark bonds on Feb. 27, selling $500 million of floating-rate, five-year securities that priced to yield 220 basis points more than the three-month London interbank offered rate, Bloomberg data show.

Citigroup also sold $1.25 billion of 2.65 percent, three- year notes on Feb. 22, Bloomberg data show. The debt traded at 101.1 cents on the dollar to yield 2.21 percent as of 9:09 a.m. in New York today, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

New York-based Citigroup managed today’s offering.

A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Libor is the rate at which banks say they can borrow in dollars from each other.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarika Gangar in New York at sgangar@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Goldstein at agoldstein5@bloomberg.net