Reliance Communications skips bond interest payment
.jpg)
With the bulk of its wireless telephony business shutting down, Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications (RCom) on Monday skipped interest payment to its bond holders.
The company didn’t pay the interest, of about $9.75 million due on Monday, on its $300-million bonds that will mature in 2020.
In a statement to the stock exchanges, RCom said, “For the time being, no payment of interest and/or principal is being made to any lenders and/or bond holders of RCom.” The company has entered into a standstill agreement till December 2018 with its lenders.
RCom owes Rs 44,700 crore to Indian banks and had entered the strategic debt restructuring (SDR) scheme of Indian banks in June this year.
The firm’s earnings slumped after cash-rich Reliance Jio Infocomm, backed by Mukesh Ambani, offered free calls and data plans last year. Amid a price war, the industry has faced consolidation and smaller players such as Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications shut down wireless telephony businesses and are being forced to restructure borrowings and sell assets.
The $300-million bonds will mature in 2020. The price on the securities has plummeted to about 40.7 cents, from more than 100 cents just six months ago.
While the coupon is relatively small and could be covered by Reliance Communications, the risk of a “non-timely payment” and the firm’s smaller business scale could keep the valuations on its bonds under pressure, according to a Barclays Plc note dated October 31. There are also execution risks to the company’s debt resolution plan, it added.
Other Latest News
.webp)
At least nine people were burnt alive and 15 injured when a moving bus caught fire near Tauru in Haryana's Nuh district in the early hours of Saturday, police said.
The incident occurred around 2 am on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway. The bus was carrying around 60 people, all residents of Punjab's Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana, who were returning from pilgrim towns of Mathura and Vrindavan. All of them are relatives, police said.
.webp)
Softbank-backed OYO is set to refile its much-awaited IPO as the global travel tech player is close to finalising its refinancing plans to raise up to $450 million via sale of dollar bonds, sources said.
JP Morgan is the likely lead banker for the refinancing through the sale of dollar bonds at an estimated interest rate of 9 to 10 per cent per annum, a source said.
.webp)
The national capital on Saturday morning recorded a minimum temperature of 27.1 degrees Celsius, 0.6 notch above the season's average, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
On Friday, Delhi witnessed 47.4 degrees Celsius in Najafgarh, making it the hottest place in the country.
.webp)
Shareholders in Nestle India have rejected a company proposal to increase royalty payments to its Swiss parent Nestle, the company said late on Friday.
The motion called for the royalty paid to its parent to climb to 5.25 per cent of net sales, net of taxes, compared to the current level of 4.5 per cent. The increase was proposed at a rate of 0.15 per cent per annum.
.webp)
Shares of Zee Entertainment soared up to 5.2 per cent at Rs 141.65 per share on the BSE in Saturday’s intraday trade. The hike in the stock prices came after the company delivered a turnaround in quarterly growth for the January-March quarter of fiscal year 2023-24 (Q4FY24).
In the March quarter, the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 13.35 crore, marking a reversal from a consolidated net loss of Rs 196.03 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
