IIFL Finance Limited 9% NCDs – January 2023 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 shivskukreja@gmail.com

IIFL Finance will be launching its public issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) from January 6, 2023. The company wants to raise Rs. 1,000 crore from this issue, with base issue size of Rs. 100 crore and an additional green-shoe option of Rs. 900 crore. The issue is scheduled to close on February 18.

The company is offering interest rate in the range of 8.50% for 24 months and 9% for 60 months. The issue is rated “CRISIL AA/Stable” by CRISIL Limited and “[ICRA] AA (stable)” by ICRA Limited.

Here are some of the salient features of the issue:

Size & Objective of the Issue – Base size of the issue is Rs. 100 crore, with an option to retain oversubscription of an additional Rs. 900 crore, making the total issue size to be Rs. 1,000 crore. The company plans to use the issue proceeds for the purpose of onward lending, financing, refinancing the existing indebtedness and other general corporate purposes.

Interest Rate on Offer, Effective Yield & Tenor of the Issue – The issue will carry coupon rate of 9% p.a. for a period of 60 months, 8.75% p.a. for 36 months and 8.50% p.a. for 24 months. These rates would be applicable for annual and cumulative interest payment options only. Monthly interest payment option is available only for 60 months period and coupon rates for the same would be 8.65% p.a., interest payable on a monthly basis.

Demat & ASBA Mandatory – Investors will not have the option to apply for these NCDs in physical or certificate form as demat account is mandatory to invest in these NCDs. Like equity IPOs, SEBI made ASBA mandatory to apply for these debt issues also effective October 1, 2018. In case of physical applications, you need to sign on the application form as per your bank records for ASBA.

Credit Rating & Nature of NCDs – CRISIL and ICRA have been appointed as the credit rating agencies for this issue. Both CRISIL and ICRA have rated the issue as ‘AA’ with a ‘Stable’ outlook. Moreover, these NCDs would be ‘Secured’ in nature.

Categories of Investors The company has decided to categorise investors in the following four categories:

Category I – Institutional Investors – 10% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 100 crore

Category II – Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) – 10% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 100 crore

Category III – High Net Worth Individual Investors (HNIs) including HUFs – 40% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 400 crore

Category IV – Resident Individual Investors (RIIs) including HUFs – 40% of the issue is reserved i.e. Rs. 400 crore

NRIs Not Allowed – Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), foreign nationals and qualified foreign investors (QFIs) among others are not eligible to invest in this issue.

Allotment on First-Come First-Served Basis – Subject to the allocation ratio, allotment will be made on a first-come first-served basis, as well as on a date priority basis, i.e. on the date of oversubscription, the allotment will be made on a proportionate basis to all the applicants of that day on which it gets oversubscribed.

Minimum Investment – An investor needs to invest a minimum of Rs. 10,000 in this issue i.e. 10 NCDs worth Rs. 1,000 each.

Listing, Premature Withdrawal – These NCDs are proposed to be listed on both the stock exchanges, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as well as National Stock Exchange (NSE). The listing will take place within 6 working days after the issue gets closed. Though there is no option of a premature redemption, the investors can always sell these NCDs on either of the stock exchanges.

No TDS – As it is mandatory to have a demat account to apply and get these NCDs allotted, no tax would get deducted at source on the interest payments. However, as the interest income is taxable, you are supposed to disclose it while filing your ITR.

But, in case you decide to close your demat account, you can get these NCDs rematerialised. So, if rematerialised and held in physical form after the allotment, and if the annual interest income is more than Rs. 5,000, TDS @ 10% will be deducted.

Application Form of India Infoline Finance Limited NCDs

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 IIFL Finance NCDs, you can contact us at +91-9811797407

Post Office Small Saving Schemes, PPF – January 2023 Interest Rates

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 shivskukreja@gmail.com

The government has announced the interest rates on Post Office Small Saving Schemes for the January-March 2023 quarter. The finance ministry made this announcement yesterday only through a notification. The interest rates on schemes like the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Monthly Income Savings Scheme (MIS), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and 1-5 year time deposits have been hiked in the range of 0.20% to 1.10% per annum.

However, interest rates on the Public Provident Fund, popularly called PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana/Account (SSA), post office savings bank account and recurring deposits have been left unchanged, leaving many of the investors quite disappointed.

Here you have the table having all the small saving schemes with their applicable interest rates and tax benefits for the quarter starting January 1, 2023:

Public Provident Fund (PPF) – Rate Left Unchanged at 7.10% – Leaving most investors disappointed, interest rate on PPF, the most popular small savings scheme, has been left unchanged at 7.10%. Interest earned on PPF is tax-free on maturity and investment up to Rs. 1.50 lakh gets you tax exemption under section 80C.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) – Rate Left Unchanged at 7.60% – Government’s pet scheme for girl child, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, has also been left untouched with interest rate fixed at 7.60%. So, the gap of 0.50% between this scheme and PPF still exists, which should keep its popularity intact.

Interest earned on Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is also tax-free on maturity and investment up to Rs. 1.50 lakh gets you tax exemption under section 80C.

National Savings Certificates (NSCs) – Rate Hiked from 6.80% to 7% – There is good news for the investors interested in National Savings Certificates (NSCs) and RBI’s Floating Rate Bonds also, which are linked to the prevailing interest rate on NSCs. The government has decided to increase interest rate offered with NSCs from 6.80% to 7%. So, RBI Floating Rate Bonds, which carry coupon rate of 7.15% till now, will carry 7.35% with effect from January 1, 2023, 0.35% higher than 7% interest NSCs will offer. Your investment in NSCs will keep giving you tax exemption under section 80C.

Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS) – Rate Hiked from 7.60% to 8% – There is some good news for the senior citizens at least. The interest rate on Senior Citizen Savings Scheme has been increased to 8% from 7.60% earlier. The interest earned on this scheme is taxable for its investors and subject to TDS as well. However, your investment gets you a deduction of up to Rs. 1.50 lakh under section 80C.

Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS) – Rate Hiked from 6.70% to 7.10% – Post Office Monthly Income Scheme will also have an interest rate hike from an earlier 6.70% to 7.10% p.a. Once favourite with its investors, this scheme has become less favourable now.

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) – Tenure Reduced from 123 Months to 120 Months – Your investment in KVP used to get doubled in a period of 123 months till now. With effect from tomorrow, it will take 120 months for it to do the same. This scheme will earn you 7.20% p.a. effectively.

Our take – Though it is a tough thing to digest for the small savers, especially with PPF and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana in which no changes have been made, I think the government has done it rightly. It is a difficult task to keep everyone happy in the country and at the same time, carry out economic reforms for an overall development.

Inflation and interest rates have been going up for a while now. The government has cautiosly increased interest rates on these small saving schemes, hoping inflation to cool down at some point of time in the near future. This move will send right signals to the global investors that the government is still serious about keeping its borrowing costs and debt levels in check and removing anomalies existent in the system.

Edelweiss Financial Services 10.45% NCDs – January 2023 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 shivskukreja@gmail.com

Edelweiss Financial Services Limited is going to launch its public issue of secured and redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) from January 3 i.e. the coming Tuesday. The company expects to raise around Rs. 200-400 crore from the issue.

It is going to offer interest rates between 9% to 10.45% per annum, with maturity periods ranging between 24 months to 120 months. The issue will remain open till January 23.

Salient features of the issue:

Size & Objective of the Issue – Edelweiss expects to raise Rs. 400 crore from this issue, including the green-shoe option of Rs. 200 crore. The company plans to use at least 75% of the proceeds for the repayment or prepayment of interest and principal of its existing loans and the remaining proceeds for other general corporate purposes.

Tenors & Coupon Rates on Offer – Edelweiss has decided to issue these NCDs for a duration of 24, 36, 60 and 120 months. The company is offering interest rates in the range of 9% to 10.45% per annum, with interest payable monthly, annually and on a cumulative basis.

Higher Coupon Rate for Edelweiss Shareholders or NCD/Bond holders – Edelweiss has also decided to offer an additional 0.20% p.a. to the shareholders of the company and/or the holders of the NCDs/bonds issued by any of its subsidiaries including ECL Finance Limited, Nuvama Wealth & Investment Limited, Edelweiss Housing Finance Limited, Edelweiss Retail Finance Limited and Nuvama Wealth Finance Limited. So, even if you hold one equity share of Edelweiss or an NCD of any of the asssociate companies, you will get this additional rate of interest.

Categories of Investors & Allocation Ratio – The investors have been classified in the following four categories and each category will have the below mentioned percentage fixed in the allotment:

Category I – Institutional Investors – 10% of the issue

Category II – Non-Institutional Investors – 10% of the issue

Category III – High Networth Individuals (HNIs), including HUFs, investing more than Rs. 10 lakhs – 40% of the issue

Category IV – Retail Individual Investors, including HUFs, investing Rs. 10 lakhs or less – 40% of the issue

NCDs will be allotted on a first-come first-served basis.

NRI Not Allowed – Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), foreign nationals and qualified foreign investors (QFIs) among others are not eligible to invest in this issue.

Rating of the Issue – These NCDs have been rated “CRISIL AA-/Negative” by CRISIL Ratings for Rs. 100 crore of the issue and “ACUITE AA-/Negative” by Acuite Ratings & Research for Rs. 100 crore of the issue.

Demat & TDS – Demat account is mandatory to invest in these bonds, so the investors will not have the option to apply these NCDs in physical form. Also, the interest income would be taxable with these bonds. However, NCDs taken in demat form will not attract any TDS.

Listing, Premature Withdrawal & Put/Call Option – The company is going to get its NCDs listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) within six working days from the date of issue closure. The investors will not have the option to redeem these bonds back to the company before the maturity period gets over, but they can always sell these bonds on the stock exchange anytime they want. However, liquidity remains an area of concern with such NCDs.

There is neither any put option with the investors of these bonds nor there is a call option with the company to pay back early.

Minimum Investment – The investors will be required to apply for at least 10 NCDs in this issue which makes it a minimum investment of Rs. 10,000.

Registrar – KFin Technologies Limited has been appointed as Registrar to the issue.

Application Form of Edelweiss Financial Services Limited NCDs

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 Edelweiss Financial Services Limited NCDs, you can contact us at +919811797407

RBI’s 7.35% Floating Rate Saving Bonds

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 shivskukreja@gmail.com

Investors often seek safe-havens for their hard earned money, and nothing could be more safe than the securities which are issued by the government or the central bank of a country. It is even better if the interest rates earned on these investments are higher than some of the other investment options which are not as safe and secured as these investments are.

One such investment available to the Indian investors is RBI’s 7.35% Floating Rate Saving Bonds (FRSBs). These bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Govt. of India and are open for subscription throughout the year. RBI has given authority to the State Bank of India (SBI), other nationalised banks like Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of India and Union Bank among others, and only four private sector banks, namely HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and IDBI Bank, to accept applications for these bonds.

Here are some of the other salient features of these bonds:

Coupon Interest (Floating) & Payment Dates

Interest payable on these bonds is 35 basis points (or 0.35%) per annum higher than the interest payable on the National Saving Certificates (NSCs) which is set and announced periodically by the Govt. of India. Effective January 1, 2023, NSCs carry interest rate of 7% per annum. So, these bonds yield 7.35% per annum to its investors.

This interest of 7.35% per annum is reset on a semi-annual basis based on the fixation of interest rate on NSCs and payable on January 1 and July 1 every year. Interest gets credited to the investor’s bank account electronically.

Who is eligible to invest in these bonds?


1. A person resident in India is eligible to invest in these bonds:
* in her or his individual capacity, or
* in individual capacity on joint basis, or
* in individual capacity on any one or survivor basis, or
* on behalf of a minor as father/mother/legal guardian


2. A Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) is also eligible to invest in these bonds.

Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are not eligible to invest in these bonds. However, if the holders of these bonds, subsequent to their investments, attain the NRI status, then they can continue to hold on to their investments subject to the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) guidelines.

Investment Limit

There is no maximum limit for investment in these bonds. So, you can invest as much as you want to.

Tax Treatment & Tax Deduction (TDS)

Interest earned by the investors on these bonds is fully taxable as per the tax slab of the investor. Tax gets deducted at source while making periodical interest payments. In case an investor is not liable to pay any tax in a financial year, she/he may submit a declaration in order to avoid TDS deduction.

Issue Price & Minimum Investment Amount

These bonds carry a face value of Rs. 100, and issued for a minimum investment amount of Rs. 1000 and in multiples thereof.

Mode of Issuance

These bonds are issued only in the electronic form and held at the credit of the holder in an account called Bond Ledger Account (BLA), opened with the receiving office of the intermediate bank. However, as a proof of subscription, a certificate of holding is issued to the holder/s of these bonds.

Nomination

Investors may nominate one or more persons as nominee(s) while making their investments, who in the event of death of the bondholder(s) would be entitled to these bonds and the principal and interest payments due thereon. Even a minor could be a nominee in these investments. However, nomination is not allowed if the investment is made in the name of a minor, as such investments will have parents or legal guardians to take care of the investment in case of untimely demise of the minor investor. Investors may even make changes in their nominees subsequent to their investments.

Transferability

These bonds are not transferable, except transfer to a nominee or legal heir in case of death of the holder of these bonds.

Tradability & Collateral

Unlike tax-free and other taxable bonds, these bonds are not tradable in the secondary markets and not even eligible as collateral for availing loans from banks, NBFCs and other financial lenders.

Lock-In Period and Maturity

These bonds are issued for a period of 7 years and you cannot withdraw your investment amount before this period if your age is less than 60 years. In other words, premature encashment is allowed only if the investor is an individual and aged above 60 years.

Lock-in period for investors in the age bracket of 60-70 years is 6 years from the date of issue, while the same is 5 years for individuals aged between 70-80 years and 4 years for individuals aged 80 years and above. So, the shortest lock-in period with these bonds is 4 years before which investors cannot withdraw their money.

Our Take

Personally, I consider these bonds as one of the safest fixed income investments for the Indian investors, with no or least volatility in their principal investment amount as well as coupon interest rate. But, lack of liquidity with no premature withdrawal is its biggest negative factor for a lot of investors. If you need to invest your money for a medium to long term and don’t want to take any risks, then these bonds are meant for you. Definitely go for them!

How to invest in NPS Online – eNPS?

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

Last minute tax savers have only 4 days left to finalise their tax saving investments. If my previous post on NPS could help you take a decision to invest in it or not, then it is the time for you to act now. If you have finally decided to invest in NPS, then going for it in an offline manner won’t help you meet the March 31 deadline. But, you can still make it if you already have Aadhaar number with you and you can make online payment for it through internet banking or credit/debit card.

As most of you are aware by now, NPS provides you an exclusive tax benefit under section 80CCD (1B) which no other investment is allowed to do for you. You get a tax exemption of Rs. 50,000 under this section, which is over and above Rs. 1,50,000 exemption under Section 80C. So, if you fall in the 30% tax bracket, your investment of Rs. 50,000 in NPS saves you an additional Rs. 15,450 in taxes.

Where to go to make the NPS investment to Save Tax?

Many investors are still confused where to go or whom to contact in order to make this NPS investment. Although many banks/intermediaries/brokers have been providing such services, they all are advising their own procedures to follow to complete the registration. This is leaving many people more confused and the NPS registration process more complicated.

But, with eNPS, you will be provided all the support you require at the click of a mouse and you need not worry about which bank or intermediary to approach to and what procedures to follow in order to save your tax.

eNPS – How to go about it?

As you must be aware, as per SEBI guidelines, one is required to go through the KYC process to make any kind of market-linked investment. NPS also requires you to get it done before your account gets activated. You need to visit any of the NSDL appointed Point of Services (PoS) i.e. any of designated bank branches authorised to sell NPS or any of the intermediaries such as CAMS, Karvy, ICICI Securities, HDFC Securities or FundsIndia, and submit your PAN card, address proof, photograph and bank details along with the duly filled application form in order to get your KYC verification.

These banks/intermediaries would then forward your application and other documents to the Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA), which would allot you a Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) and open an NPS account in your name. This whole process usually takes 15-20 days as your PRAN gets generated and allotted to you.

However, with the introduction of eNPS, you are not required to visit any of the banks or intermediaries to submit your application form and other necessary KYC documents. As per the official website for eNPS, you have two options to register yourself online and I would like to explain you both the options here.

Option I – Registration on www.enps.nsdl.com using Aadhaar

If you have your Aadhaar number and your mobile number is linked to it, you need to register yourself online on https://enps.nsdl.com and make the payment through netbanking or credit/debit card. Your PRAN gets generated as soon as you register and make the payment.

For registration, you will be required to fill up the application form online and upload your signature in *.jpeg/*.jpg format. For authentication, a one-time password will be sent to your registered mobile number. The KYC process will be done using your demographic details and photo from the Aadhaar database. If desired so, you can replace your photo as well.

Option II – Registration using PAN (KYC Verification by Banks)

As many as 40 banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, Canara Bank and IDBI Bank etc., are also providing such online services for KYC verification and PRAN generation. You can get the complete list all these 40 banks on the eNPS website.

If you have your bank account with any of these 40 banks, you have already got your PAN number or Aadhaar number linked to your bank account and you can make online payment using the bank’s internet banking facility or credit/debit card, then you can invest in NPS online using your bank’s services.

You just need to fill up your details online, upload your scanned photograph and signature in *.jpeg/*.jpg format and make the payment. As soon as you make the investment, a PRAN will be allotted to you.

Please note that these banks and intermediaries do get paid certain transaction charges or service charges for all these services they provide you through their own platforms. However, you can save these charges by routing your transactions through eNPS.

90 Days to Dispatch KYC Documents – This is the only thing you need to do in an offline manner. Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) gives you 90 days’ time to send your duly attested KYC documents to reach them for further authentication. You need to take a printout of the application form, paste your photograph, sign it in the block provided and post it to the CRA within 90 days from the date of PRAN allotment.

The PRAN Kit containing a PRAN Card, Internet Password (IPIN), Telephone Password (TPIN), Subscriber Master Report, Scheme Information Booklet along with a Welcome Letter will be sent to your registered address post that.

Credit Card Payment – Every year in March, I come across many of my clients/friends who face some kind of cash crunch, either due to an abnormally high tax deduction from their salaries or due to their last minute investments/payments to save tax. If you are one of them, then this is a good news for you. As mentioned above as well, eNPS allows you to make your investment through a credit card also. So, you can effectively defer your cash outflow by a few days or weeks using a credit card and still enjoy the tax benefit for the current financial year.

eNPS for Old Subscribers – Existing subscribers can also make their NPS contributions using the eNPS platform. You just need to visit the eNPS website and make the contribution authenticating your PRAN using the OTP sent to your registered mobile number. Again, you can opt for either internet banking or credit/debit card to make the contribution.

I hope the above information helps you do your tax saving investment in NPS, even if you have decided late to go for it. If you have any further queries or need more information regarding eNPS, you may contact Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) or NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited at 1800 22 2080 or 022 – 40904242 or eNPS@nsdl.co.in

Your general views, queries and suggestions are always welcome here on this OneMint forum.

Site restored to normal

A quick note to let you know that as far as we can tell, the site has been restored to normal and you won’t see any more spammy posts.

What happened was a person, script or machine had somehow gotten access to one of the passwords that is associated to an account here that has publishing rights. Posts were getting published through that account, and it took a while to narrow down the problem to that account.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the person or system had just guessed the password to that account because I had kept it ridiculously simple.

The lesson is to make all your passwords complicated, and the way to do that is to use pass-phrases instead of passwords because they are easily remembered and harder to guess or crack. For example: “$DinosaurBirdBrain457#” I believe is easily remembered and harder to crack.

Apologies for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience.

Site Attacked: Ignore the daily email from June 23 2015

I noticed three posts titled ‘cheap oakley posts’ and similar variants on the site yesterday, and promptly deleted them, as well as changed passwords etc.

Three more posts like this appeared a few hours later, and then two more. I am working to get this issue resolved, but I wasn’t able to stop the daily emails from sending out these spammy posts.

Please ignore the email from today, and if you would like to unsubscribe because of this nuisance, you can scroll down to the bottom of the email and click on the unsubscribe link.

I’ll send out a further update when the issue is resolved.

Weekend Links – May 29 2015

One of the more interesting news stories of the week was the FIFA arrests, and this NYT article gives a good account on how the Swiss authorities went about doing this.

The American indictment of FIFA officials doesn’t look into the alleged corruption in awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, which has caught a lot of attention recently due to the numerous workers who have died there recently. This Guardian article talks about a new atrocity where Nepalese workers weren’t allowed to go back home to attend funerals of their family members. 

This Economist articles compares how nationals of different countries have done in the US, and it is amazing to see how far ahead Indians are compared with anyone else.  

Harvard Business Review with a good article on how silence should be used as a weapon for persuasion. 

I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan, and people who have read the book or seen the TV series would know that only very few things can ever top the Red Wedding. George RR Martin on where his inspiration for the Red Wedding came from. 

A barber in a village close to the Pakistan border got suspicious when he saw a pigeon land on his hut because it had markings and seal in Urdu. He took the bird to the police, and the police took it to the vet, but all is well, the pigeon is not a spy, but the police still has the bird in custody.

Fascinating question, and unbelievable answer: Will any species go extinct if humans were to go extinct?

Enjoy your weekend!

Cricket World Cup 2015 Schedule – How to Add it to Google Calendar

Cricket World Cup 2015 has started with a big bang for India. India have beaten its biggest sporting rival Pakistan by 76 runs. It seems that Pakistan cricket team require some kind of commando training before they can even think of beating India in a World Cup match.

It also seems that Virat Kohli has fallen in love with Adelaide Oval. After scoring centuries in each of the innings of the first test against Australia, Kohli smashed one more century here yesterday against Pakistan and most importantly, it was a match winning century.

But, I was more impressed with the innings Suresh Raina played. He provided the much required momentum to the Indian innings and scored 74 runs off 56 balls. This Indian win has sent temperatures soaring among Indian cricket fans and now we all are waiting for India’s next league match, and the most crucial one, against South Africa.

After the match got over, I wanted to check the World Cup schedule and also save the dates of some of its crucial matches. As I was not sure about the date and the day of India’s next match, I quickly searched for it on Google and reached ICC’s World Cup 2015 App on my mobile. It was great to find India’s next match against South Africa to be on Sunday, I mean the coming Sunday, February 22. So, I hope we have a Super Sunday this time as well!

I found ICC’s World Cup App quite helpful and that’s why I decided to write a post on it. It has a feature through which you can add World Cup fixtures to your Google Calendar. So, all those cricket fans who want to remain updated with who is playing who during this cricket cup and want to add World Cup’s schedule to their Google Calendar, here is the step-by-step process, followed by the schedule itself.

Step 1: To have the World Cup schedule on your device, you first need to have your Google account set up on your device. You need to go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Moreover, you also need to make your default calendar to be Google. Just scroll down to the bottom on the same Mail, Contacts, Calendars page and see which calendar is selected as your ‘Default Calendar’.

Step 2: Download Cricket World Cup 2015 app for iOS or for Android and then launch it.

Step 3: Just tap on Fixtures, which will show you the complete schedule of the matches.

Step 4: Now tap on the calendar icon at the bottom of any fixture. Then tap on ‘Add all fixtures.’

Step 5: All the fixtures will get added to your Google Calendar and it will give you a reminder as well half an hour before a match starts.

There is one more way by which you can add the schedule to your Google calendar. Click on the Google Calendar in your Gmail. Go to My Calendars > Settings > Browse Interesting Calendars > Sports > Cricket > International Cricket Council – ICC and subscribe to the teams whose fixtures you want to add to your calendar. It will add all their matches to your calendar.

So, having World Cup 2015 schedule added to your Google Calendar will keep you updated with your favorite matches and hopefully you will not miss the day’s action on the field.

Schedule of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

icc-cricket-world-cup-2015-ist

Courtesy: www.india.com

Also, which team do you think is going to win the World Cup this time around? I am putting my bets on South Africa as I think they have the most balanced side with De Villiers, Amla, Du Plessis, Miller, Steyn and Morkel, all ready to fire with their guns. If not South Africa, I think it would be Australia as they too have an extremely talented batting side with Maxwell, Smith, Finch, Warner and Johnson in form and they have the benefit of playing under their home conditions also.

But, whichever team wins, it has always been a fun watching Cricket getting played in Australia and New Zealand. I truly love it! 🙂

SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited NCD Review

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

SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited is the latest company to join the bandwagon of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and without making much noise about it, the issue has already been launched by the company on September 20th. Though SREI Infra issued tax-saving infrastructure bonds last financial year, this is the first public issue of NCDs by the company.

This is a relatively small size issue of Rs. 150 crore only, including the option to retain Rs. 75 crore in case of oversubscription. The company plans to use the proceeds for various financing activities, to repay its existing loans, for capital expenditures and other working capital requirements.

About SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited

SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited is primarily engaged in providing infrastructure financing for the development of power, roads, urban infrastructure, telecom, SEZs and industrial parks etc. It is also engaged in equipment leasing, rentals & auctioning, project financing, project development, advisory and fund management. The company has also been granted the status of Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC) by the RBI, which makes it one among very few companies which have been given this status.

Financials of the company

SREI reported total income of Rs. 2,446 crore for the year ended March 31, 2012, as against Rs. 1,638 crore it generated for the year ended March 31, 2011, an increase of 49%. But, the company reported a decline of 38% in its net profit, which stood at Rs. 111 crore in FY12 as compared to Rs. 179 crore in FY11.

Gross NPAs and Net NPAs of the company stood at 1.25% and 1.12% respectively as on March 31, 2012. The company had zero NPAs till March 31, 2011. Debt Equity Ratio of the company stands at 1.54 times before this issue and will result in 1.60 times after this issue.

Here is the link to check the latest audited financial results of the company ending March 31, 2012 –

About the NCD Issue

These NCDs would be secured in nature and carry a maturity period of 7 years under all its options. These NCDs also offer a “Put Option” to the individual investors, which gives them the authority to redeem these bonds after 60 months from the date of allotment.

40% of the issue is reserved for the individual category portion, 40% of the issue is for the non-institutional investors and the remaining 20% of the issue is for the institutional investors. In this issue, there is no differentiation between the retail individual investors, including the HUFs, investing less than Rs. 5 lakhs and high-networth individuals (HNIs), investing more than Rs. 5 lakhs. The allotment will be made on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Category I – institutional investors and Category II – non-institutional investors are not allowed to subscribe for Series I – monthly interest option and Series II – quarterly interest option, whereas individual category investors can subscribe to any series of these NCDs.

Series I II III IV
Tenor 7 Years 7 Years 7 Years 7 Years
Frequency of Interest Monthly Quarterly Annual Cumulative
Category of Investors Individual Individual All All
Minimum Investment Rs. 1,00,000 Rs. 1,00,000 Rs. 10,000 Rs. 10,000
Coupon 9.84% 9.92% 10.30% N.A.
Effective Yield 10.30% 10.30% 10.30% 10.41%
Redemption Amount Rs. 1,000 Rs. 1,000 Rs. 1,000 Rs. 2,000
Put Option Yes; After 60M Yes; After 60M Yes; After 60M Yes; After 60M

There are many features in this issue which make it quite unattractive for the investors. Firstly, the interest rate is quite low as compared to the other issues. The company is offering these interest rates under four different series – payable monthly, payable quarterly, payable annually and cumulative annually, offering 9.84%, 9.92%, 10.30% and 10.41% per annum respectively. There is very little additional incentive for the retail investors in this issue.

These NCDs have been packaged in such a manner that the effective yield to the individual investors would be either 10.30% p.a. or 10.41% p.a. at the most. Under the cumulative interest option, the individual investors will get Rs. 2,000 and the institutional and non-institutional investors will get Rs. 1,980 at the time of maturity against Rs. 1,000 invested. The company will not deduct any TDS on the NCDs taken in the demat form.

Secondly, the company has decided to keep the minimum investment requirement of Rs. 1 lakh (or 100 NCDs of face value Rs. 1,000), if an individual investor opts for the monthly or quarterly interest option. I think this amount is too high to be the minimum investment from the small retail investors’ point of view.

Moreover, these NCDs are going to get listed only on the BSE and as the issue size is relatively small, this might create a liquidity problem in future.

It is not mandatory to have demat account to invest in this issue as the investors have the option to apply these bonds in physical form also. NRIs and foreign nationals among others are not eligible to invest in this issue.

The issue has been rated ‘CARE AA’ by CARE and ‘BWR AA’ by Brickwork Ratings and closes on October 25, 2012.

Like Muthoot Finance NCDs, I don’t find any single reason for me to invest in this issue as well. I think SREI Infra wants to test the water of the NCDs market with this issue, keeping the rate of interest below 10%. It is not going to attract great interest from either the institutional investors or the retail individual investors and should ideally remain undersubscribed even with the issue size of Rs. 75 crore only.