Lower lot size warrants for more liquidity: SEBI to SEs

Mumbai: Stock exchanges have got proposals from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to revise the formula for calculating the lot size of listed equity warrants. The proposal aims to lower lot size warrants for greater liquidity and make it affordable to retail investors as well, reports Apurv Gupta of the Economic Times.

The companies have been issuing lot size warrants along with non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to lower their cost of borrowing. An interest is paid by the companies on the NCD segment of the issue. The combined offering of NCDs and warrants is primarily aimed at institutional investors. As of now, only HDFC, Bharat Forge, Electrosteel and Gujarat NRE Coke have raised money through this route.

HDFC raised Rs. 4,301 crore through this issue, of which Rs. 300 crore was by way of warrants at Rs. 275 apiece. In addition, the housing finance company was the first company to raise money through a combination of NCD and warrants.

The lot size of Bharat Forge is 50,000. The issue price of the warrant has risen to Rs. 105 from Rs. 2. Hence, the price of the warrants will be Rs. 52.5 lakh for a single contract.
Adding to it, a single contract of HDFC warrants costs around Rs. 2 lakh, as the price of the warrant has risen to Rs. 571 from Rs. 275 at the time of issue.

According to SEBI's circular to stock exchanges, the minimum contract value of trading of NCDs/warrants should be Rs. 1 lakh.