The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has approved an application by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to issue Senior Unsecured Listed Redeemable Rated Debentures at an Issue Price of Rs. 100 amounting to a potential capital raising of up to Rs. 20 Billion. The debentures will be issued for period of 5 years with a fixed coupon interest rate of 9.
35% p.a. (AER 9.35%) to be paid annually. The issue will open on 8th April 2021.
The initial issue will consist of 100 million debentures with an option to issue up to a further 100 million debentures at the discretion of the CEB in the event of an oversubscription of the initial Issue. This will pave the way for CEB to raise Rs. 10 billion in capital initially with an option to raise a further Rs. 10 billion subsequently. The debentures carry a rating of AA-(lka) by Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited while CEB is rated as AA-(lka) with a Stable Outlook by the same rating agency.
Commenting on the development, the CEO of CSE Rajeeva Bandaranaike stated “We are pleased to note that the CEB is opting to finance its capital requirements through the Sri Lankan stock market. This once again demonstrates the confidence placed in the Sri Lankan stock market by both private and state institutions as an effective and efficient source of capital raising.
We welcome other state institutions to strongly consider the Sri Lankan stock market as a vehicle to finance growth and development.”