Five companies garner Rs 882 crore via non-convertible debentures in April-July

As many as five companies have raised Rs 882 crore through retail issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in the first four months of the ongoing fiscal to strengthen their balance sheets.

In comparison, companies had collected Rs 4,177 crore through this route in the April-July period of 2019-20, data with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed.

The funds have been mopped up to strengthen balance sheets, which might have been impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic, retire existing debt and to support working capital requirements, market experts believe.

According to the data, as many as five firms -- Muthoottu Mini Financiers and Muthoot Fincorp, Kosamattam Finance, KLM Axiva Finvest and Sakthi Finance -- have mopped-up funds totalling Rs 882 crore through retail issuance of NCDs in the current fiscal till July 13.

NCDs are loan-linked bonds that cannot be converted into stocks and usually offer higher interest rates than convertible debentures.

Individually, Kosamattam Finance raised Rs 297 crore as against a target of Rs 150 crore.

While, Muthoottu Mini Financiers mopped up Rs 198 crore, Muthoot Fincorp raked in Rs 160 crore, KLM Axiva Finvest raised Rs 124 crore and Sakthi Finance garnered Rs 102 crore.

In the entire fiscal 2019-20, companies had raised Rs 14,984 crore.