HUDCO 7.64% Tax-Free Bonds – Tranche I – January 2016 Issue

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 skukreja@investitude.co.in

In the last 10 trading days or so, some major stock markets all over the world have plunged more than 10%. I think this could be the worst fall for the global stock markets since 2008-09, when the US economy was badly hit by the subprime mortgage crisis. In India also, stock prices across sectors have fallen 20-40% in a very short span of time to touch their lowest levels since August 2013.

Investors are scared to check their stock portfolios as there is a big value erosion out there and margin calls have started to get triggered. As the situation is turning from bad to worse, investors are looking for safe havens to protect their hard-earned money. In such a scenario, what could be a safer place to park your money than ‘AAA’ rated tax-free bonds issued by a government company.

HUDCO will be launching its public issue of tax-free bonds from January 27, offering a coupon rate of 7.64% for 15 years and 7.27% for 10 years. The company will try to raise Rs. 1,711.50 crore in this offer, including the green-shoe option to retain oversubscription to the tune of Rs. 1,211.50 crore. Though the issue is scheduled to close on February 10, I think it should get oversubscribed on the first day itself in all the four categories of investors.

Before we analyse it further, let us first check the salient features of this issue:

Size of the Issue – HUDCO is authorized to raise Rs. 5,000 crore from tax free bonds this financial year, out of which the company has already raised Rs. 1,288.50 crore by issuing these bonds on a private placement basis during July-October period.

Out of the remaining Rs. 3,711.50 crore, the company will try to raise Rs. 1,711.50 crore in this issue. However, it is still not clear whether HUDCO would raise the remaining Rs. 2,000 crore this financial year or surrender the allocated amount back to the government.

Rating of the Issue – CARE and India Ratings have assigned ‘AAA’ rating to the issue, thus suggesting that these bonds carry highest degree of safety regarding timely payment of financial obligations. Moreover, these bonds are ‘Secured’ in nature i.e. in case of any default, the bondholders would carry a right to make claim on certain assets of the company.

Coupon Rates on Offer – NHAI, which was the last ‘AAA’ rated issue this financial year, offered 7.60% coupon for its 15 years option and 7.39% for 10 years. As 10-year G-Sec yield has fallen and 15-year G-Sec yield has risen since then, HUDCO bonds will carry 7.64% for the 15-year option and 7.27% for the 10-year option.

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For the non-retail investors, these rates would be lower by 25 basis points (or 0.25%).

NRI/QFI Investment Not Allowed – Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) are not eligible to invest in this issue as well.

Investor Categories & Allocation Ratio – The investors have been classified in the following four categories and each category will have certain percentage of the issue size reserved during the allocation process:

Category I – Qualified Institutional Bidders (QIBs) – 20% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 342.30 crore

Category II – Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) – 20% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 342.30 crore

Category III – High Net Worth Individuals including HUFs – 20% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 342.30 crore

Category IV – Resident Indian Individuals including HUFs – 40% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 684.60 crore

Allotment on First Come First Served Basis – Subject to the allocation ratio, allotment will be made on a first come first serve (FCFS) basis in each of the investor categories, based on the date of upload of each application into the electronic system of the stock exchanges.

Listing & Allotment – Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is the only stock exchange where HUDCO bonds will get listed. The company will allot the bonds and get them listed within 12 working days from the closing date of the issue.

Demat A/c. Not Mandatory – It is not mandatory to have a demat account to apply for these bonds. Investors have the option to subscribe to these bonds in physical/certificate form as well. Whether you apply for these bonds in demat or physical form, the interest amount will still get credited to your bank account directly through ECS.

Also, even if you get these bonds allotted in your demat account, you will have the option to rematerialize your bond holding in physical/certificate form if you decide to close your demat account in future.

No Lock-In Period – These tax-free bonds are freely tradable and do not carry any lock-in period. The investors may sell them at the market price whenever they want after these bonds get listed on the stock exchanges within 12 working days of the closing date.

Interest on Application Money & Refund – Successful allottees will earn interest at the applicable coupon rates i.e. 7.27% p.a. for 10 years and 7.64% p.a. for 15 years on their application money, from the date of realization of application money up to one day prior to the date of allotment. Unsuccessful allottees will get interest @ 5% per annum on their refund money.

Minimum & Maximum Investment – Investors are required to put in a minimum investment of Rs. 5,000 in this issue i.e. at least 5 bonds of face value Rs. 1,000 each. There is no upper limit for the investors to invest in this issue. However, an investor investing more than Rs. 10 lakhs will be categorized as a high networth individual (HNI) and will get a lower rate of interest as applicable.

Interest Payment Date – HUDCO will make its first interest payment exactly one year after the date of allotment and the date of allotment will be announced as the company allots its bonds to the successful applicants.

Record Date – For the payment of interest or the maturity amount, record date will be fixed 15 days prior to the date on which such amount is due to be payable.

Should you invest in this issue?

Global crude oil prices have plunged to their lowest levels since May 2003 and are currently trading at $26.76 per barrel as I write this line. Commodity prices are also falling sharply as China has suffered from its slowest GDP growth in 25 years. 10-year treasury note yield in the US has fallen below 2%, even as the US Fed has announced its decision to hike interest rates there. All these events suggest that there is a major demand slowdown out there which could potentially push some of the major economies back into some kind of recessionary environment.

Amid such a cruel slowdown, I am surprised (and disappointed also) how India is still having a high CPI inflation and why the RBI is still reluctant to cut interest rates when the economy badly requires low levels of rates in order to keep floating for survival. I strongly believe that there is an urgent requirement for the RBI to cut interest rates and not to wait for its next monetary policy on February 2nd to take any such action.

I think HUDCO issue is an opportunity for the risk-averse investors to invest their money for a healthy tax-free return for a long period of time. This could be one of the last couple of issues available for the investors this financial year to earn a risk-free income. Moreover, if the RBI obliges with a 25 or 50 basis points rate cut, we could see coupon rates falling sharply in the next bond issue by NHAI.

Application Form for HUDCO Tax Free Bonds

Note: As per SEBI guidelines, ‘Bidding’ is mandatory before banking the application form, else the application is liable to get rejected. For bidding of your application, any further info or to invest in HUDCO tax-free bonds, you can contact me at +919811797407

Best Performing Tax Saving Mutual Funds (ELSS) of 2015

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 skukreja@investitude.co.in

Stock markets have turned turbulent again. Every morning I turn on a business channel these days, I see a large number of red ticks and only a few green ticks. Markets have fallen back to the May 2014 levels when Modi government was voted to the power with high hopes of turning things around. While I think the government is working very hard to get things in order, things are taking a very long time to get back on track.

While analysts are pointing fingers towards China, Fed rate hike and tumbling crude oil prices, I think they are taking classes from Kejriwal i.e. blaming others for anything & everything, but not checking what is wrong within. I think Indian markets are not falling only because of China scare, but because the investors have lost hopes of any corporate earnings revival in the foreseeable future.

Moreover, sentiment has also turned negative with respect to the pace of reforms and policy actions. For this, I would like to thank the Congress leadership, for the role they have played in disrupting two consecutive sessions of parliament and blocking passage of some important bills like GST, Land Acquisition Bill, Real Estate Regulatory Bill etc.

But, I think they have no other option, but to do all this in order to survive for a few more months or years. As India is a democratic nation, we all have to bear such dramas year after year and the more they are able to successfully carry it out, the better are their chances for getting voted back to the power again. Chalo, chalta hai… aakhir India hai !!

But, whether markets go up or go down, a retail investor always gets stuck somewhere, either waiting for the markets to come down to make some investments or watching the markets fall like there is no tomorrow. It is easier to advise investors – “Buy when there is a panic and sell when there is a euphoria”, but it is very very difficult to follow it religiously. Small investors are never able to follow it and they do the exact opposite most of the times. That is why, most of them finally end up bearing losses, after which they stop investing in equities forever.

Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS) – Tax Saving Mutual Funds u/s 80C

Tax saving season is gathering pace again. While service class people are required to submit their tax saving investment proofs in offices, others will also wake up soon to take such actions. Whenever the markets jump extraordinarily during a financial year, Equity Linked Savings Schemes, or popularly known as ELSS, become the investors’ favourite investment instrument for tax saving under section 80C.

For the last two years or so, investors have been putting a lot of money in these ELSS schemes, but the returns have remained moderately below their expectations. In the three tables below, you can check the best performing ELSS schemes for a period of 1 year, 3 years and 5 years, starting from January 3, 2011 to December 31, 2015.

Best Performing ELSS from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015Picture 4

Best Performing ELSS from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015Picture 5

Best Performing ELSS from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015Picture 6

Personally, I feel these equity linked saving schemes (ELSS) are the best investments to save tax under section 80C. But, conservative investors should prefer PPF, NSC or tax saving fixed deposits (FDs) over these schemes as these funds can have considerably high volatility over your investment period and if any of your financial goals hinge on the returns generated by these funds, you could be fairly disappointed with their returns.

Also, the schemes taken up here in the tables above are not the only good schemes to invest in, there are around 30 more ELSS schemes from which you can pick two or three schemes which suit your investment objectives. You can consult your investment/tax advisor for making such investments.

Please share your views about your investment experience in equity mutual funds and whether you make investments in these funds or not for your tax saving. I think it would be a great topic of discussion here.

IREDA 7.74% Tax-Free Bonds – January 2016 Issue

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 skukreja@investitude.co.in

First of all, we wish all the readers of OneMint a very Happy & Prosperous New Year !! May God give you success in your work and peace in your life and 2016 turns out to be the best year in your life !!! 🙂

IREDA 7.74% Tax-Free Bonds

Hunger without food is bad for health, so is overeating. Investors were hungry for tax-free bonds, especially a big issue to satisfy their demand, like the NHAI one. But, when such an issue came, they were not able to have full of it. It only got subscribed by 0.86 times in the retail investors category.

Such a big supply or say shortage of demand resulted in poor listing for the IRFC bonds. Investors were expecting some healthy listing gains with IRFC bonds after it received a good response and big oversubscription on the first day itself. But, that did not materialise, probably because NHAI offered slightly higher rate of interest or probably many investors subscribed to IRFC bonds to get its listing gains only.

As the NHAI issue got closed on the last day of 2015, IREDA announced slightly higher rate of interest for its issue which is getting launched on Friday next week i.e. January 8th. It will offer a maximum of 7.74% coupon rate for a period of 15 years, which is 0.14% higher than NHAI’s 7.60%. But, at the same time, this issue is AA+ rated, so it can carry a slightly higher rate of interest.

The issue is officially scheduled to close on January 22, but I think it should get fully subscribed much before than that.

Before we analyse it further, let us first quickly check the salient features of this issue:

Size of the Issue – IREDA is authorized to raise Rs. 2,000 crore from tax free bonds this financial year, out of which the company has already raised Rs. 284 crore by issuing these bonds through a private placement. The company will try to raise the remaining Rs. 1,716 crore in this issue.

Rating of the Issue – ICRA and India Ratings have assigned ‘AA+’ rating to the issue, thus suggesting that these bonds carry very low credit risk and high degree of safety regarding timely payment of financial obligations. As all the previous issues were rated ‘AAA’, this is the first issue this financial year which is rated AA+.

Moreover, these bonds are ‘Secured’ in nature i.e. in case of any default, the bondholders would carry a right to make claim on certain assets of the company.

Coupon Rates on Offer – As this issue is rated AA+, it can offer interest rates which are 10 basis points (or 0.10%) higher than the rates which a AAA-rated issue could have offered. While NHAI 15-year option carried 7.60% rate of interest, IREDA is offering 7.74% for the same duration. For 10-year period, IREDA issue will have 7.53% rate of interest as against 7.39% which NHAI was offering.

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As the NHAI issue did not offer 20-year investment period, IREDA offer will be attractive for the long-term institutional investors like insurance companies or pension funds. For 20-year period, IREDA is offering 7.68% to the retail investors and 7.43% for the non-retail investors.

For the non-retail investors, these rates would be lower by 25 basis points (or 0.25%).

NRI/QFI Investment NOT Allowed – Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) are not eligible to invest in this issue.

Investor Categories & Allocation Ratio – The investors have been classified in the following four categories and each category will have certain percentage of the issue size reserved during the allocation process:

Category I – Qualified Institutional Bidders (QIBs) – 20% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 343.20 crore

Category II – Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) – 20% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 343.20 crore

Category III – High Net Worth Individuals including HUFs – 20% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 343.20 crore

Category IV – Resident Indian Individuals including HUFs – 40% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 686.4 crore

Allotment on First Come First Served Basis – Subject to the allocation ratio, allotment will be made on a first come first serve (FCFS) basis in each of the investor categories, based on the date of upload of each application into the electronic system of the stock exchanges.

Listing & Allotment – IREDA has decided to get these bonds listed only on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The company will allot the bonds and get them listed within 12 working days from the closing date of the issue.

Demat A/c. Not Mandatory – It is not mandatory to have a demat account to apply for these bonds. Investors have the option to subscribe to these bonds in physical form as well. Whether you apply for these bonds in demat or physical form, the interest payment will still get credited to your bank account through ECS.

Also, even if you get these bonds allotted in your demat account, you have the option to rematerialize your holding in physical/certificate form if you decide to close your demat account in future.

No Lock-In Period – These tax-free bonds are freely tradable and do not carry any lock-in period. The investors may sell them at the market price whenever they want after these bonds get listed on the stock exchanges within 12 working days of the closing date.

Interest on Application Money & Refund – Successful allottees will earn interest at the applicable coupon rates i.e. 7.53% p.a. for 10 years and 7.74% p.a. for 15 years and 7.68% p.a. for 20 years on their application money, from the date of realization of application money up to one day prior to the date of allotment. Unsuccessful allottees will get interest @ 5% per annum on their refund money.

Minimum & Maximum Investment – Investors are required to put in a minimum investment of Rs. 5,000 in this issue i.e. at least 5 bonds of face value Rs. 1,000 each. There is no upper limit for the investors to invest in this issue. However, an investor investing more than Rs. 10 lakhs will be categorized as a high networth individual (HNI) and will get a lower rate of interest as applicable.

Interest Payment Date – IREDA will make its first interest payment exactly one year after the date of allotment and the date of allotment will be announced just before the listing date. I will update this post as and when it gets announced.

Record Date – For the payment of interest or the maturity amount, record date will be fixed 15 days prior to the date on which such amount is due to be payable.

Should you invest in this issue?

IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency), 100% owned by the Government of India, was established in 1987 to promote, develop and extend financial assistance for renewable energy and energy efficiency/conservation projects. As the company has strategic importance in the development of the renewable energy sector, certain special privileges have been provided to the company:

* Regular capital infusion in the company by the Government,

* Sovereign guarantee to the lenders against approximately 58% of IREDA’s total borrowings,

* Rs. 300 crore allocation from the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF),

* Access to cheaper sources of funding, like these tax-free bonds etc.

Reasons for a lower Credit Rating as ‘AA+’ – Many investors want to know why this issue has been rated ‘AA+’ this time around when last time in February 2014, IREDA issued these bonds and the issue was assigned ‘AAA’ rating by the credit rating agencies. Investors also need to decide whether they should invest in this issue with a higher rate of interest being a AA+ rated issue or wait for HUDCO to announce its interest rates and then take a decision.

So, as the HUDCO interest rates are yet to get announced and we also don’t know when exactly the issue will be launched, it is difficult to guesstimate its interest rates. That is why I can talk only about this issue at this point in time. As far as the rating is concerned, I think higher NPAs and lower yield on its lending portfolio resulting in a fall in the company’s net interest margins (NIMs) are the two primary reasons for its rating downgrade from AAA to AA+.

IREDA was doing well in terms of managing its asset quality a couple of years back. Its Gross NPAs improved from 19.9% in 2007 to 3.86% in 2013. But, in recent times, its financials have taken a hit and its Gross NPAs have again increased to 5.34% by March 31, 2015 and 5.92% by September 30, 2015.

IREDA vs. REC vs. PFCPicture1

(Note: Figures are in Rs. Crore, except figures in %)

Moreover, as per ICRA, lending only to the renewable energy sector, low net worth of the company as compared to some of the bigger players in the power financing business and higher NPAs in the small hydro, cogen and biomass segment are a few other reasons for a lower rating.

However, as IREDA is 100% owned and backed by the Government of India and as the government is committed to encourage the use and development of renewable sources of energy, I think the company should be able to improve its financials going forward. Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) is quite comfortable at 27.40% on September 30, 2015 and its debt-to-equity ratio is expected to be 3.93% after this issue gets completed. IREDA also plans to go public in the next 2-3 years.

Personally, I am quite comfortable investing in this issue as I think IREDA should be able to improve its balance sheet going forward and the government backing will always be there for a company financing the renewable energy space. However, conservative investors, who need to invest only Rs. 10 lakh or less in these tax-free bonds, should wait for the HUDCO issue or NHAI Tranche II.

Application Form for IREDA Tax Free Bonds

Note: As per SEBI guidelines, ‘Bidding’ is mandatory before banking the application form, else the application is liable to get rejected. For bidding of your application, any further info or to invest in IREDA tax-free bonds, you can contact me at +919811797407