India easing perpetual bond valuation norm set to revive market
By Dharamraj Dhutia and Bhakti Tambe
MUMBAI, Aug 13 (Reuters) -India easing norms for how mutual funds value perpetual bonds will prompt banks to resume issuing the notes and revive the market, bank officials and investors said.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which had tightened valuation norms in March 2021 after Yes Bank completely wrote off its perpetual bonds, said last week that mutual funds can use the call option maturity to price the notes.
Additional tier I perpetual bonds are debt instruments that have no pre-defined maturity date, and mature when issuing bank exercises the call option.
Banks had slowed issuing the notes as the 2021 valuation norm change hurt appetite. In January this year, they had sought a relaxation.
Now, the country's largest lender State Bank of India SBI.NS and its state-run peers Canara Bank CNBK.NS, Bank of Baroda BOB.NS and Punjab National Bank PNBK.NS are likely to raise around 150 billion rupees (about $1.8 billion) through perpetual bonds by September end, bankers said.
The lenders did not immediately respond to Reuters' emails seeking comment.
"We see relatively better interest from mutual funds after the revised norms," Mahendra Kumar Jajoo, fixed income CIO at Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India), said.
No bank has issued perpetual bonds so far this fiscal year. Funding raising through the notes dropped to 175 billion rupees in fiscal year 2024 from 344 billion rupees in the previous year, data compiled by Reuters showed.
"...The change in valuation recognises the market practice and legitimizes it in the way of valuation. Now, there should be lesser volatility in NAV (net asset value) of funds holding such bonds," Sandeep Bagla, CEO at Trust Mutual Fund said.
The move will likely boost initial demand and improve market sentiment, but the long-term impact on yields is expected to be neutral as the market adjusts to supply dynamics, Venkatakrishnan Srinivasan, founder and managing partner at Rockfort Fincap, said.
Over the longer term, interest in the notes will be a function of the additional return they offer over regular unsecured bonds, Anurag Mittal, head of fixed income at UTI Mutual Fund said.
($1 = 83.9600 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Dharamraj Lalit Dhutia; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
