Apple borrows billions despite record profits and cash hoard

Apple, on 2 February, sold $6.5bn (£4.3bn, €5.7bn) in bonds after boosting the offering by 30%.

The sale marked the tech giant's fourth major debt deal in two years.

Apple sold the securities in five parts, with the longest portion maturing in 30 years. Funds raised will be used for stock repurchases, dividend payments and debt repayments, Bloomberg reported.

Apple's latest debt deal is the largest US high-grade corporate-bond sale so far this year, according to S&P Capital IQ LCD.

Jody Lurie, a corporate credit analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott, which manages $61bn in assets, told Bloomberg: "[Apple] is building on the momentum of a strong past couple of weeks. They are being advantageous with the current environment."

Apple tapped the debt market less than a week after reporting a 38% jump in its fiscal first-quarter profit.

The firm's move comes regardless of the fact that it is sitting on a multi-billion dollar cash hoard. The firm ended December 2014 with some $178bn in cash and marketable securities, according to a 27 January statement.

CFO Luca Maestri told analysts in a conference call on 27 January: "We have now taken action on almost $103bn of our $130bn capital return program including $73bn in share repurchases with four quarters remaining to its completion," adding the firm plans to announce an update to the programme in April 2015.

In November 2014, Apple issued bonds in euros for the very first time, and raised €2.8bn ($3.17bn) to fund investor rewards without using cash from abroad that will be subject to US repatriation taxes.

Apple has issued nearly $39bn of bonds since April 2013, when it wooed the markets with a $17bn bond deal.