In 2025, TBI Bank repaid early—one year ahead of schedule—a EUR 20 million bond issue originally placed in June 2024 with a 9.0% annual coupon. Earlier in September, the bank also exercised its call option to redeem another EUR 10 million bond issued in December 2023 at an annual coupon of 9.5%. In total, investors received EUR 30 million in principal repayments. Additionally, throughout 2025 the bank paid EUR 5.3 million in interest to bondholders across its outstanding debt instruments.
This proactive refinancing strategy reflects TBI Bank’s commitment to replacing legacy, high-coupon debt with more efficient funding sources. During 2025, the bank successfully issued two new bond offerings with coupons of 7.60% and 7.00%, attracting nearly EUR 100 million in fresh capital. Part of the newly raised funds was then used to redeem earlier, more expensive issues, resulting in an optimized funding structure and improved cost efficiency.
TBI Bank has also confirmed its intention to continue its issuance program in 2026. A new bond issue is planned for the first quarter of 2026, with further details expected by February. The bank additionally plans to exercise the call option on another EUR 10 million bond (ticker: TBIB) currently carrying a 9% coupon.
Bulgaria AIF Fund Delivers Clean, Cost-Efficient Returns for Golden Visa Investors
Based on the bank’s current direction, we anticipate that the new bond issuance in 2026 will fall within the range of 6.50% to 7.00%. While this may seem lower compared to yields of 15% seen in other markets, Bulgaria AIF achieves strong net profitability for several reasons:
• Bonds are subscribed directly from the issuer, avoiding the typical 0.25% subscription fees charged by most brokerage firms.
• There are no currency conversion expenses, as the issuance is denominated in EUR and Bulgaria adopts the euro as its national currency on 1 January 2026.
• The fund’s strategy emphasizes clean, fixed-income returns with minimized transactional costs.
Combined, these factors ensure that investors benefit from transparent, efficient, and cost-effective fixed-income exposure, fully aligned with Bulgaria AIF’s capital-preservation-oriented investment mandate.
The TBI Bank bond IPO can further enhance the Bulgaria AIF Fund portfolio for Bulgaria Golden Visa applicants by expanding diversification across a broader range of high-quality bond issuers.
