Ennore Port Ltd. has launched a public issue of tax-free bonds to raise up to Rs.1,000 crore from the market to meet its capital investment plans.
The tax-free instruments are in the form of secured redeemable non-convertible bonds of the face value of Rs.1,000 each having tax benefits under Section 10(15) (iv) (h) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
The bonds are being issued in two series. The Series I bonds have a coupon rate of 7.01 per cent per annum and a tenure of 10 years. The Series II bonds have a coupon rate of 7.17 per cent per annum and a tenure of 15 years.
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An additional coupon rate of 0.50 percentage point will be paid to original allottees under Category IV (Retail Individual Investors), the company said.
The issue, to raise Rs.500 crore with an option to retain oversubscription of Rs.500 crore, which opened for subscription on February 28, will close on March 15. The bonds are proposed to be listed on the BSE.
M. A. Bhaskarachar, Chairman and Managing Director, Ennore Port, told presspersons that the proceeds of the issue would go to part-fund the various projects being implemented by the company.
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He said the company, for the year ended March 31, 2012, reported a net profit of Rs.96.72 crore on a total income of Rs.250.26 crore. For the six months ended September 30, 2012, the net profit was Rs.89 core on a total income of Rs.147.03 crore.
The bonds have been assigned a rating of “BWR AA+ (SO) (Outlook: Stable)” by Brickwork; “CARE AA-” by CARE; and “CRISIL AA-/Stable” by CRISIL.
The bonds with such ratings are considered to have high degree of safety regarding timely servicing of financial obligations and carry very low credit risk.