This post is written by Shiv Kukreja, who is a Certified Financial Planner and runs a financial planning firm, Ojas Capital in Delhi/NCR. He can be reached at [email protected]
After REC 8.71% issue and HUDCO 8.76% issue, India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) would be the third such company to come up with its public issue of tax free bonds this financial year from the coming Thursday i.e. October 3rd.
IIFCL has fixed its coupon rates at 8.75% per annum for 20 years, 8.63% per annum for 15 years and 8.26% per annum for 10 years. As compared to the HUDCO issue, the rates are lower for the 10 year and 15 year options, but higher for the 20 year option. This is probably due to a rise in the longer duration rates in the last 10-odd days, after the Repo Rate hike by the RBI.
The issue has been rated ‘AAA’ as against the currently running ‘AA+’ rated issue of HUDCO. So, I think the investors, who were not subscribing to the HUDCO issue due to its lower rating of ‘AA+’, should definitely lap it up to enjoy higher tax free rate of interest.
The official closing date of the issue is October 31, but the company may extend it or preclose it, depending on the investors’ response to the issue.
Size of the Issue – IIFCL is allowed to raise Rs. 10,000 crore from tax-free bonds this financial year, out of which it has already raised Rs. 2,963.20 crore through three of its private placements. The company plans to raise Rs. 2,500 crore from this issue, including the green-shoe option of Rs. 2,000 crore, and that is why the company is calling it to be “Tranche-I Issue”.
The issue size is smaller in comparison to the issue size of REC bonds of Rs. 3,500 crore and also of HUDCO bonds of Rs. 4,809.20 crore. I was expecting IIFCL to raise Rs. 7,000 crore from this issue itself, but probably the company sees lesser investor appetite at this point in time, as the market is already flooded with other bond or NCD issues.
NRIs not allowed – This was quite surprising to me. Contrary to what was appearing in the newspapers a few days back to attract foreign investors or non-resident Indians (NRIs) to invest in some kind of infra bonds issued by IIFCL, the company has not allowed them to invest in this Tranche-I issue at least. Probably they have their own reasons behind it.
Listing – IIFCL will get these bonds listed only on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Investors can apply for these bonds either in demat form or in physical form, as per their comfort and requirement. The company will get the bonds allotted and listed within 12 working days from the issue closing date.
Interest on Application Money & Refund – IIFCL will pay interest to the successful allottees on their application money, from the date of realization of application money up to one day prior to the deemed date of allotment, at the applicable coupon rates. Unsuccessful allottees will get interest @ 5% per annum on their refund money.
Rating of the issue – Four companies have rated this issue, ICRA, Brickwork Ratings, CARE and India Ratings, and all of them have rated this issue at ‘AAA’, which is their highest rating to any debt issue. Also, these bonds are ‘Secured’ in nature against certain assets of the company.
Categories of Investors & Allocation Ratio – The investors again have been classified in the following four categories and each category will have certain percentage of the issue reserved for the allotment:
- Category I – Qualified Institutional Bidders (QIBs) – 15% of the issue is reserved
- Category II – Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) – 20% of the issue is reserved
- Category III – High Networth Individuals (HNIs) including HUFs – 25% of the issue is reserved
- Category IV – Resident Indian Individuals (RIIs) including HUFs – 40% of the issue is reserved
Minimum & Maximum Investment – There is no change in the minimum investment requirement of Rs. 5,000 i.e. at least 5 bonds of Rs. 1,000 face value each. Retail Investors’ investment limit stands at Rs. 10 lakhs, beyond which they will be considered as HNIs and will get a lower rate of interest.
Profile of the company – IIFCL, which started its operations in 2006, is 100% owned by the Government of India. IIFCL has been a key institution in the infrastructure financing space and serves the strategic role in financing economically viable infrastructure projects in the country.
IIFCL is a favoured institution with the Government of India. Its board of directors includes representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission. Also, India Infrastructure Finance Company UK (IIFC-UK), IIFCL’s wholly-owned subsidiary, has a government-guaranteed $5 billion credit line from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) against India’s foreign exchange reserves.
The government has supported IIFCL by way of regular equity infusions and this figure stood at Rs. 400 crore last financial year. IIFCL has total borrowings of Rs. 29,493 crore as on March 31, 2013, out of which 72% borrowings carry sovereign guarantee by the government.
With the interest rates still ruling higher, IIFCL’s interest rates look quite attractive to me. IIFCL is a special company in the infrastructure finance space and I think the support extended to it by the government will continue in the near future as well. With so many positives, I think this issue definitely merits some consideration by the investors.
Download the Application Forms of IIFCL Tax Free Bonds
As per SEBI guideline, ‘Bidding’ is mandatory before banking the application form. For bidding of your application, any further info or to invest in IIFCL tax-free bonds, you can contact me at +919811797407
NHPC tax-free bond issue opens on October 18th. Coupon Rates are as under:
8.92% for 20 Years
8.79% for 15 Years
8.43% for 10 Years
The rates offered are absolutely same as the PFC rates. It is also rated ‘AAA’. The issue closes on the same date i.e. November 11th.
Day 7 (October 11th) subscription figures:
Category I – Rs. 20 crore as against Rs. 375 crore reserved
Category II – Rs. 117.26 crore as against Rs. 500 crore reserved
Category III – Rs. 257.43 crore as against Rs. 625 crore reserved
Category IV – Rs. 354.30 crore as against Rs. 1,000 crore reserved
Total Subscription – Rs. 748.99 crore as against total issue size of Rs. 2,500 crore
Day 6 (October 10th) subscription figures:
Category I – Rs. 20 crore as against Rs. 375 crore reserved
Category II – Rs. 114.76 crore as against Rs. 500 crore reserved
Category III – Rs. 252.53 crore as against Rs. 625 crore reserved
Category IV – Rs. 327.08 crore as against Rs. 1,000 crore reserved
Total Subscription – Rs. 714.37 crore as against total issue size of Rs. 2,500 crore
Day 5 (October 9th) subscription figures:
Category I – Rs. 20 crore as against Rs. 375 crore reserved
Category II – Rs. 111.64 crore as against Rs. 500 crore reserved
Category III – Rs. 230.49 crore as against Rs. 625 crore reserved
Category IV – Rs. 289.95 crore as against Rs. 1,000 crore reserved
Total Subscription – Rs. 652.09 crore as against total issue size of Rs. 2,500 crore
PFC Tax-Free Bonds Issue opens on October 14th. Coupon Rates are as under:
8.92% for 20 Years
8.79% for 15 Years
8.43% for 10 Years
Could you please let me know the source of this information. I cant seem to find it online. Thanks.
Here you have it:
http://www.onemint.com/2013/10/10/pfc-8-92-tax-free-bonds-october-2013-issue/
http://www.edelweisspartners.com/Mutual%20Fund%20Info/PFC%20-%20Tax%20Free%20Bonds_Product%20Note0810%20.pdf
http://www.pfcindia.com/home.aspx
Hi Shiv
I have applied for IIFCL Tax Free Bond for Rs. 1,50,000 for 15 Years on 7 th October, 2013. Now I am expecting Rs. 10,00,000 more fund in my account in next week.. So I would like to know , whether can I apply for another Bonds ? If yes , up to what amount I can apply – Rs. 8,50,000 or Rs. 10,00,000.
Suppose my first application was Rs. 1,50,000 for 15 years , then can I apply for Rs. 10,00,000 for 20 Years or not ?
Hi Paresh,
In order to get the higher rate of interest, you should not invest more than Rs. 10 lakh per issue per company across different maturity periods. So, yes you can make an additional investment in the IIFCL issue, but it should not cross Rs. 10 lakhs for you to get higher rate of interest set for the retail investors.
As you’ve already invested Rs. 1.5 lakh for 15 years, you should not invest more than Rs. 8.5 lakh in the same issue across 10, 15 & 20 year options taken together.
Day 4 (October 8th) subscription figures:
Category I – Rs. 20 crore as against Rs. 375 crore reserved
Category II – Rs. 90.01 crore as against Rs. 500 crore reserved
Category III – Rs. 229.66 crore as against Rs. 625 crore reserved
Category IV – Rs. 241.98 crore as against Rs. 1,000 crore reserved
Total Subscription – Rs. 581.66 crore as against total issue size of Rs. 2,500 crore
RBI has today cut MSF Rate by 50 basis points (or 0.50%) to 9%, in order to cut liquidity crunch in the banking system. This is going to help banks in reducing their cost of overnight (very short-term) borrowings and also in normalization of the yield curve. Bond markets should cheer this news to some extent tomorrow.
Sir,
What does it mean to g-sec yield, up or down ? 🙂 😛
10-year benchmark G-Sec yield closed at 8.4957% today, down from its previous close of 8.68%.
Day 3 (October 7th) subscription figures:
Category I – Rs. 20 crore as against Rs. 375 crore reserved
Category II – Rs. 77.17 crore as against Rs. 500 crore reserved
Category III – Rs. 153.30 crore as against Rs. 625 crore reserved
Category IV – Rs. 179.75 crore as against Rs. 1,000 crore reserved
Total Subscription – Rs. 430.22 crore as against total issue size of Rs. 2,500 crore
Day 2 (October 4th) subscription figures:
Category I – Rs. 20 crore as against Rs. 375 crore reserved
Category II – Rs. 51.33 crore as against Rs. 500 crore reserved
Category III – Rs. 131.86 crore as against Rs. 625 crore reserved
Category IV – Rs. 92.71 crore as against Rs. 1,000 crore reserved
Total Subscription – Rs. 295.91 crore as against total issue size of Rs. 2,500 crore
Day 1 (October 3rd) subscription figures:
Category I – Nil as against Rs. 375 crore reserved
Category II – Rs. 32.65 crore as against Rs. 500 crore reserved
Category III – Rs. 145.72 crore as against Rs. 625 crore reserved
Category IV – Rs. 31.20 crore as against Rs. 1,000 crore reserved
Total Subscription – Rs. 209.57 crore as against total issue size of Rs. 2,500 crore
Also what is your recommendation regarding the tenure? Though the difference in interest rate is quite good (between 10 and 20 years) it is OK to apply for 20 years? 🙂
Personally, I’ll make my family invest in the 20 year option, but I think 15 year option is also good. But, then I would prefer HUDCO for the 15 year option.
Can’t really comment on the 10 year option. People who want to take it in the physical form & have a shorter horizon should go for the 10 year option.
Thanks Shiv!
I just applied for 20 years considering AAA rating of IIFCL.
Personally I am diversifying my TFB investments across the companies and across the tenures. 🙂
Great !! 🙂
For 10 years HUDCO is better.
Hi Shiv,
How is the progress/performance on the first day?
Also who is next in the pipeline? IRFC?
Thanks,
Amlan
Hi Amlan… seeing your comment after a long time, nice !!
Response is a bit muted on the first day, only Rs. 56 crore worth of bonds have been subscribed for. I think people have exhausted most of their money in the REC issue. Lets see how it goes.
PFC & NHPC are the next to issue these bonds. PFC would come in the 2nd week & NHPC in the 3rd week of October. IRFC not yet.
I can’t see this on hdfcsec. Any idea is this can be available to buy online from hdfcsec demat account?
Not sure, but I don’t find any reason for them not to offer it on their platform.
Thanks Shiv for this article. I and many others believe Rajan is very firm in his approach to bring down inflation.. So expect more rate hikes in the coming few months. Hence we should slowly allocate to these tax free bonds.. Apply for this offering but keep some money for future offerings of IRFC with potentially higher rate of interest..
Checked out today that last years Hudco tax free bonds are quoting at 960/- today.
Hi Bhaskar, thanks for your views & info! I think it is the govt’s job to bring down the inflation and not the RBI’s. I wonder why the inflation is just not falling despite a slowdown in the economy and good monsoon rains. I hope both these things help the RBI in its efforts of bringing down the inflation and it is not required to increase the interest rates from here onwards.
Hi,
I can understand your concern about possible hike in interest rates. Probably you should have a better look at the historical data to come to a conclusion. Even if Interest rate goes up from 9% for FD to 10%, it is not necessary for the govt to have Tax free bonds giving higher rates. Current rate given for Tax free bonds is high and a decision which Finance minister have taken and encouraged these PSUs to ensure that the Govt is able to contain the financial crisis related Account deficits. These are temporary measures. If you compare this with last years offering and wait for future offerings, we know even in last year first offerings were giving better interest rates and slowly it was reduced. Again when one opts for Bonds, there should be long term commitment and stomach to see the price going up or down. Unlike stock market, the volatility will not be high, but the profits is directly linked to interest and bond market. Stay invested and take some profits when the interest rate comes down and the price goes up. As governor, Rajan will have to have 360 degree view on the economy and not necessarily increase interest rates. He will also have to focus on growth. In summary, HUDCO and IIFCL coupon rates are descent for investors in 20-30% tax bracket any time. Once can have the amount distributed in different bonds based on their capacity to invest. Diversification within these bonds is important.
Hi Shiv,
Thanks for the update. Quick and general question. IF we download the form from the link that you gave , where we can submit this form by ourselves? We live in Chennai.
Is it possible to drop at some place or mail the completed form to an address by courier?
Please let me know. Thanks,
Regards,
Sundar.
Hi Sundar,
After filling the downloaded form, you just mail me the scanned copy of the form on my email id. I’ll do the bidding of your application on the stock exchange (BSE) and provide you the exchange’s “Bid Code”. After that you can deposit the form directly in some bank in Chennai. I’ll let you know the bank branch where you can directly deposit the form yourself.
In case you are not able to mail the scanned copy, just courier the form to me in Delhi and I’ll do the rest of the work at my end and mail you the scanned copy of your acknowledgement after depositing the form.
You may also visit the Chennai office of A K Stockmart with the downloaded form and deposit the form there. Please check page no. 43 from this link:
http://www.akstockmart.com/akintra/Upload_DnLoad/58_EXTRA.pdf
Thanks, I will check and let you know
Sure, thanks!
What is the interest payout date?
Hi Anix,
Interest Payment Date is not announced as yet. First payout will be made exactly one year after the date of allotment.
what is the NPA % ?
It is 0.88% as on March 31, 2013.
I heard that HUDOC NPA has jumped to 5% last quarter. Considering this should we prefer IIFCL for not only rating but also NPA.
Though rating agencies consider NPAs also, but yes it is better to check NPAs relatively.
‘bidding is mandatory before banking the application form ….”
what is bidding ?
Hi Ramesh,
Bidding is a process through which demand for a particular debt issue gets ascertained. It is a method in which an applicant’s details get punched into the online bidding platform of a stock exchange. Once bidding is done, a bid ID gets generated which is to be mentioned on the application form, after which the investor can directly submit the application form in a bank. An application form deposited without bidding is liable to get rejected.
http://www.bseindia.com/markets/MarketInfo/DispNoticesNCirculars.aspx?page=20120831-22
Hi Shiv,
If I apply through my demat account, is the bidding process taken care? Or do I still have to apply in physical format?
Regards,
Roberto
Hi Roberto,
If you apply for it through your online trading platform, then your broker will do the bidding on your behalf. You are not required to do anything extra. If you apply for it by filling an application form, only then bidding of your physical application is required.