NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - U.S. corporate bond sales in 2002 tumbled 22 percent from a year ago, as investors nervous about the economy, credit quality and corporate fraud favored the safety of U.S. government debt.
Citigroup Inc.'s Salomon Smith Barney unit, Credit Suisse Group Inc.'s Credit Suisse First Boston unit and Merrill Lynch & Co. were the top investment-grade, junk and convertible bond underwriters, as in 2001, Thomson Financial of Newark, New Jersey, said on Tuesday.
All handled less volume than a year ago. Salomon, Deutsche Bank AG's Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. unit, and Bank of America Corp.'s Banc of America Securities LLC unit were the top fourth quarter underwriters in investment-grade, high-yield and convertibles, respectively.
Issuance fell to $669.3 billion from $856.6 billion, though yields on U.S. Treasuries fell to 40-year lows, helping to lower borrowing costs. Merger activity fell, while companies cut capital spending and largely finished refinancing short-term debt. Such big issuers as Ford Motor Co. sold more asset-backed debt.
The declines meant more than an estimated $2.1 billion of lost fees for Wall Street banks coping with fewer mergers, less stock issuance and an anemic initial public offering market.