NHAI bonds 8th Feb 2012

8th Feb 2012,Wednesday

Investors in National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) bond issue are sitting on decent returns as bonds have listed at premium of more than 3% today.

The bonds with a 10-year maturity are currently trading at Rs 1,028, up Rs 28 or 2.8%, while that with 15- year maturity is trading at Rs 1,035.95, up Rs 35.95 or 3.6% (as on 1:00 pm).
These tax-free bonds maturing in 10 years and 15 years were issued at a coupon of 8.20% and 8.30% per annum respectively. On a yield basis, these bonds are currently trading at a yield of about 7.85% and 7.95%.

“The bonds have listed at a good premium as per expectations,”said Ajay Manglunia, head of fixed income, Edelweiss Financial. “Even the current yields are attractive for investors with a long term view as the central bank will only bring down interest rates from here.”

The 10-year bond touched a high of Rs 1,035 and the 15-year bonds touched a high of Rs 1043.4 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Trading volume in both the counters was high. The 15-year bonds have so far clocked a turnover of Rs 340 crore and the 10-year bonds has seen Rs 115 crore worth of bonds change hands.

The NHAI bond issue, which opened for subscription on December 28, had seen huge response, especially in the high net worth individuals (HNI) and institutional investors categories.

The state-run company, which is responsible for building highways, had raised Rs 10,000 crore through the bond issue. The retail and HNI segment had a reservation of 30% each, while the remaining 40% of the issue was for the qualified institutional buyers.