R-Infra's Rs 2,500-cr long-term debt plan gets board nod

Reliance Infrastructure on Wednesday secured board approval to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore in long-term debt to refinance some of its debt. It also secured the nod to extend the repayment period of some of its high-cost rupee debt.

These long-term resources could either be raised through external commercial borrowings, foreign currency convertible bonds, rupee term loans or non-convertible debentures, the company said in a communication to the stock exchanges. These could also be used towards other approved ends, it added.

As on June 30, Reliance Infrastructure’s consolidated debt stood at Rs 24,300 crore. The debt was 0.92 times its equity, the company said in an investor presentation. Standalone debt stands at Rs 12,500 crore.

Two days ago, the company had said it planned to raise Rs 300 crore through non-convertible debentures. Brickwork Ratings India has assigned the proposed issue an AA rating.

Rating agency CRISIL recently downgraded Reliance Infra's long-term bank facilities to CRISIL A+ with a negative outlook from CRISIL AA- with a negative outlook. It also withdrew rating on its short-term debt, on company's request.

“The rating revision reflects lower revenue visibility in its engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) business coupled with higher-than-expected exposure to RInfra’s group companies. The impact of these developments is partially offset by the incremental annual cash flow expected from the recovery of regulatory assets in its Mumbai distribution business,” the rating agency said, in its report.

The agency said that increase in exposure in group company weakened RInfra’s financial risk profile. “The company’s liquid surplus parked in mutual funds and deposits decreased to Rs330 crore as on March 31, 2013 from Rs1,023 crore as on March 31, 2012. CRISIL believes that R-Infra’s high debt servicing requirement and modest cash accruals will constrain its debt protection measures over medium term,” the rating agency said.

The company's stock went up by 2.3% in today's trade to close at Rs 412, as per details available on the Bombay Stock Exchange.