Abstract | Keywords | Export | Availability | Bookmark

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The paper explores how firms perform after entering debt capital markets for the first time during the 2017-2019 period. Literature review covers various studies concerning the developments of the corporate bond markets. Data is gathered from different databases. First filtered in the Eikon for the first-time issuance criteria, then in Orbis for the firm size criteria. Final sample of 38 companies consists of corporates from EU member states and the UK. Ex-post period of one year is set to conduct descriptive analysis, observing the differences between pre- and post-issuance performance in terms of turnover, assets, liabilities, and some financial health measures such as profitability, liquidity, and solvency. Results show that first-time issuers mostly use their external financing to finance their growth, which is reflected in the rise of total assets. Issuer companies already have high debt prior to issuance. By entering bond markets, they increase total liabilities significantly as well as their risks of insolvency. In the short run, observed firms get less profitable, whereas changes in turnover are not detectable. Finally, their liquidity remains around the same value and with issuance they diversify from equity to debt financing.