Issuers cancel planned bond sales as yields surge over govt borrowings rise

India’s companies have been struggling to raise money in the bond market after a surge in yields triggered by the government’s announcement last month of bigger-than-expected borrowings.
 

It’s one of the most striking examples from Asia of how rising rates globally are prompting corporate treasurers to recalibrate. Two state-owned borrowers -- Indian Railway Finance Corp. and National Cooperative Development Corp. -- withdrew planned rupee bond sales on Thursday as investors demanded higher yields than the firms had expected.

Borrowing costs surged the most since 2013 in February and rupee bond sales plunged to a 19-month low of 504.6 billion rupees ($6.9 billion) in the month. The strains came after India’s government announced near-record borrowings of about 12 trillion rupees on Feb. 1, adding to concerns that companies could be crowded out of debt markets.

Attention now turns to companies planning to seek bids for local-currency notes on Friday: National Highways Authority of India, LIC Housing Finance and Housing Development Finance Corp.