RCOM redeems $500-mn convertible bonds

NEW DELHI: Reliance Communications redeemed $500 million (Rs 2,250 crore) worth of bonds issued in May 2006 at a 25.84% premium, the company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

India’s second-biggest mobile carrier by subscribers said the zero-coupon foreign currency convertible bonds were redeemed on May 9, Monday, the due date for redemption. “The company has redeemed all the outstanding Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) from the $500 million (Rs 2,250 crore) issue in May 2006,” the statement said.

After redemption, the equity capital of the company remained the same and it did not have to allot 2,74,13,085 shares of Rs 5 each, arising from the conversion. Reliance Communication’s scrip rose 1.29%, closing at Rs 90.6 at the end of Tuesday’s trade on the stock exchange.

During trading hours, the scrip rose nearly 4% to Rs 92.9. The company has a net worth in excess of $13.6 billion (Rs 64,000 crore), cash flows of $2.8 billion (Rs 13,000 crore) and net profit of $1.8 billion (Rs 8,400 crore), the company added. The company has a customer base of over 138 million including over 2.5 million individual overseas retail customers.