P.S. 'Telefonija' a.d. issued the first long-term corporate bonds on the Serbian market

05.07.10 15:33  -  Investors news

Press conference

P.S.‘Telefonija’ a.d. is the first company on the Serbian market to issue long-term corporate bonds. 5,000 bonds with the par value of RSD 10,000 were issued, which amounts to EUR 500,000 in total. The bonds are issued in the process of private placement with four years maturity date, coupons being payable quarterly each year until the end of maturity.
The interest consists of variable and fixed part and yields the amount equivalent to the rate of yearly EURIBOR increased by the fixed 7.5%.
This is a private offering whose investor is ‘Wiener Staedtische’ a.d., and in the future we plan more private placements for other insurance companies. We also plan the sale of an issue of corporate bonds to the public.

The President of P.S. ‘Telefonija’ a.d. , Branimir Bošković, stated at the press conference that he hopes Telefonija’s step towards the financial market will be an incentive to other companies in Serbia to issue corporate bonds.

Telefonija CEO, Predrag Sofrenić, stated that the money received in the private offering will be used for the development and construction of gas network, as well as for improving internet services capacity.

The President of the Securities Commission, Milko Štimac, announced that this also was a great challenge for all the members of the Commission who had invested a lot of work and effort so that what is legally possible could be put into effect. He emphasized that a corporate bond is a new instrument to collect means for the development of the economy.

Director of WM Partners and consultant in the procedure, Vladimir Pavlović, stated that there already are several short-term issues worth a couple of million euros, and that this was the first long-term issue, while in Croatia this market is worth several billion euros. According to Mr. Pavlović, the structure of bonds is such that through coupons the investors will be paid only the interest during the first year, whereas the principal will be paid in the following years, in which manner the investors are protected against the risks.

Aleksandra Kukić, the agent in this procedure (Erste Bank), deems this to be a truly brave move of Telefonija, which pioneered the issue of long-term corporate bonds on the Serbian market.