BoC debenture issue

At the media briefing (from left): Deputy General Manager International, Treasury and Investments of BOC, P.A Lionel, Chairman Bank of Ceylon, Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe, General Manager K. Dharmasiri and Chief Financial Officer Asoka Rupasinghe.

Bank of Ceylon (BOC) opened the subscription list of its public issue of debentures on November 15, 2012. These debentures rated AA(lka) by Fitch Rating (Lanka) Ltd, are unsecured, subordinated and redeemable on maturity after five years and will be listed on the Main Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The issue is for 30,000,000 debentures of Rs. 100 each, amounting to Rs. 3 b with an option to issue further 30,000,000 debentures to raise up to Rs. 6 b in the event an over subscription.

The five year debentures have three interest payment options to suit the investor.

Type A - fixed interest rate of 16.00 percent p.a. paid annually or Type B - floating interest rate of six months gross treasury bill rate + 1.25 percent paid bi-annually or Type C - fixed interest rate of 15.25 percent p.a. paid bi-annually.

Non- residents are also allowed to apply for any type of debentures provided funds are remitted through proper channels.