BM Desk : For the first half of the sixth year (January 5, 2025, to July 4, 2025), the trustee of Ashuganj Power Station Company Limited (APSCL) has set a coupon rate of 10.5% annually. For this six-month period, bondholders are expected to receive a 5.25 percent return. The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) made this announcement public.

According to the information given, July 7 has been set as the coupon’s record date. For the first half of the sixth year, the face value of the bond is set at Tk 2,500 per unit. The bond’s trustee had previously informed bondholders of a coupon rate of 10.50 percent for the second half of the fifth year (July 5, 2024, to January 4, 2025).

Ashuganj Power Station Company Limited (APSCL) has raised funds from the capital market through a seven-year bond issuance. At the time of this bond issuance, the company indicated that 25 percent of the bond’s principal would be repaid in the fourth year. So far, 2 lakh units of the bond were redeemed in the first phase in 2024 at a face value of Tk 3,750. The bond has also announced that another 25 percent of the units will be redeemed in the second phase starting January this year at a face value of Tk 2,500.

In this context, the total redemption amount for the 2 lakh units of the bond stands at Tk 500 crore. Likewise, during the third phase, the bond’s face value will be Tk 1,250, and in the fourth phase, it will be fully redeemed.

In November 2019, APSCL raised funds of Tk 100 crore through bond issue. Of the money raised, 468 million was planned to be spent on land development and construction, 300 million on primary fuel purchase, 360 million on vehicle purchase, 440 million on engineering and consultancy services, 1099 million on working capital and 421 million on initial public offering (IPO) expenses. Outside the IPO, the company raised another 500 million taka through private placement. APSCL issued two lakh non-convertible fully redeemable coupon-bearing bonds of 5,000 taka each through the IPO. The annual coupon interest rate of APSCL bonds will be determined by adding a margin of 4 percent to the interest rate of the 182-day treasury bill. Its minimum amount will be 8.5 percent and maximum 10.5 percent. This coupon is payable semi-annually. In the IPO, general investors were allotted one bond of the company for 5,000 taka. For the first three years after the IPO, investors will receive dividends at a margin rate along with the interest rate of the Treasury bill. And in the fourth year, the invested money will start to be returned along with the dividends. Of this, 25 percent will be returned in the fourth year, 25 in the fifth year, 25 in the sixth year and 25 in the seventh year. And at the end of the seventh year, the bond will expire after the investors’ dues are fully paid. The bond is tradable like other securities listed on the stock exchange.