First Capital Treasuries announces Rs. 500 m debenture issue

Monday, 26 January 2015 00:13 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

First Capital Treasuries Limited, a Primary Dealer licensed and appointed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and a subsidiary of First Capital Holdings PLC, has announced that it intends to issue subordinated, unsecured, redeemable debentures with a principal value of Rs. 500 million maturing in five years and bearing an interest rate of 9.5% per annum payable annually. The issue will open on Tuesday 27 January 2015.

Debentures are priced at a face value of 100 each and will be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. The debenture issue is rated BBB+ while the issuer, First Capital Treasuries Limited, is rated A- by Lanka Rating Agency. First Capital Limited, the corporate debt structuring and placement arm of the group, will be managing the issue and Bank of Ceylon will act as Trustee to the issue. First Capital Group Chief Executive Officer Dilshan Wirasekara said the company plans to utilise the funds raised through the debenture issue to achieve the following objectives; Enhance the long term funding base of the company by way of tier 2 capital and increase capital adequacy, which will allow the company to grow its core business and allow further leverage on government securities whilst being well above the regulatory directives by Central Bank of Sri Lanka. To minimise interest rate risk and liquidity risk by issuing fixed rate debentures for a period of five years, thereby reducing the maturity mismatch on the balance sheet. First Capital Treasuries is licensed and appointed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to deal exclusively in government securities and currently stands at a commanding position as the leading non-bank Primary Dealer in the country. The company was incorporated in August 1982 and is the primary dealer arm of First Capital Holdings PLC, an investment bank pioneer in debt and equity markets. Over the first half of the financial year 2014/15, First Capital Treasuries reported an increase in profits after tax from Rs. 673 million to Rs. 843 million. While the company declared dividends of Rs. 41 per share (Rs. 19 per share 2013/14) totalling Rs. 631 million to the shareholders during the period under review. Over the first half of the financial year 2014/2015 First Capital Holdings PLC reported a consolidated turnover of Rs. 1.7 billion and consolidated profit after tax of Rs. 868 million. “We have done remarkably well during the current financial year and as the pioneer and leading non-bank Primary Dealer, we are extremely proud that we are the first Primary Dealer to offer a listed debenture to all our valued investors,” concluded Wirasekara. For more details and to download the prospectus please visit: www.firstcapital.lk.