Reliance Industries said to plan refinancing as $12 billion debt matures

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd plans to refinance a significant portion of about $12 billion of borrowings that mature over the next three years and may sell bonds to repay the debt, according to company executives with knowledge of the matter.

India’s largest company by market value will repay some of the debt coming due, mostly bonds and interest, the officials said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential matters. Reliance’s repayments from 2018 through 2020 will be its biggest for any previous three-year period and include about $8.14 billion of term loans, $3.52 billion of bonds and a $300 million revolver loan, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It also has about $1.65 billion of interest payments, the data show.

Reliance’s borrowings have ballooned over the past five years as the group invested in building its telecom business, a pet coke gasification unit and in expanding petrochemicals capacities. The plan to tap the bond market is part of a larger trend that’s seen Indian corporates choosing bonds over loans for the first time in at least a decade. One of the fastest economic growth rates in the world and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reforms have attracted global funds to India, reducing costs for issuers.

Controlled by second-richest Asian Mukesh Ambani, Reliance has sufficient cash though it won’t use it to repay maturing debt as the company’s credit ratings and strong finances enable it to raise funds at competitive rates, the people said. A Reliance spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment.

S&P Global Ratings has a BBB+ score on Reliance’s long-term debt, two levels above the sovereign; while Moody’s has the company at Baa2, a notch above the Indian government.

Reliance’s $1 billion 4.125% 2025 notes was quoted at 139 basis points over US treasuries, the tightest spread since issuance, and lower than the average of 185 basis points on an index of Indian investment-grade debt compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The company earned about Rs94 billion, or about a quarter of the company’s profit before tax, in the year ended March by investing its surplus cash in interest bank deposits, debt securities and other instruments, according to its annual report.

Reliance has yet to decide whether to raise the funds for refinancing through local- or foreign-currency bonds, according to the people. The company hasn’t decided on the timing of any new issuance or on the amount it plans to raise, though it will probably use several tranches as debt matures, they said.

India’s second-largest oil refiner had outstanding debt of more than $31 billion as on 30 June and cash of about $11 billion. Reliance generated an operating profit of about Rs147 billion ($2.3 billion) in the quarter ended June, which suggests that the figure could be around Rs588 billion for this financial year.