PSX successfully manages and concludes book building for PHL Energy Sukuk

PSX is now playing a key role in helping the government raise financing for infrastructure and the power sector circular debt, in the most transparent and efficient manner

KARACHI: Power Holding Limited (PHL) Sukuk-II, a public sector entity fully owned by the Ministry of Energy, heavily oversubscribed during its book building at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) here on Tuesday.

The book building process of Sukuk II of PHL was successfully concluded today by PSX. The private placement has attracted a diverse group of investors, including banks, NBFCs, mutual funds, insurance companies, pension funds and HNWIs, said a statement of PSX.

This is the first ever debt issuance through book building in PSX’s history and represents an important milestone in the development of debt capital markets in Pakistan. PSX is now playing a key role in helping the government raise financing for infrastructure and the power sector circular debt, in the most transparent and efficient manner.

The debt instrument is being issued to address the liquidity constraints being faced by Pakistan’s power sector. Pakistan Energy Sukuk-II (PES-II) is a GoP guaranteed Shariah compliant security of Rs 200 billion which is 100% SLR eligible, having a 10-year maturity with semi-annual profit payment for investors. The book building process was held on May 18th to 19th 2020, with the bid(s) registration taking place between May 11th and May 15th 2020.

PSX and the bookrunners, NBP and Taurus Securities, will present the results to the board of PHL before they are made public.

The government of Pakistan decided to issue the debt through the PSX to ensure transparency and competitive bidding. PSX offers a state of the art, book building mechanism which is used to determine the cutoff spread (-/+) in basis points (bps) over the 6 month Kibor rate, that the issuer will pay on semi-annual basis to successful investors. The total issue size is being offered through private placement to eligible investors, followed by a technical listing of the Sukuk on PSX.

With regard to this highly successful Sukuk-II issuance at PSX, Farrukh H Khan, MD PSX said, “this Sukuk issue, for the first time undertaken through book building in Pakistan, is a watershed moment for the development of the debt market in Pakistan. The book building process is used for price discovery and follows a standardized methodology in line with international best practices.” This will increase the investor base, liquidity and secondary market trading of the sukuk, enabling the GOP to borrow at the most competitive rates.”

He further added, “We commend the Ministry of Finance and PHL for selecting Pakistan Stock Exchange to raise the Sukuk through a transparent book building process. The SECP greatly facilitated this process through their guidelines and proactive support. The Director General Debt was instrumental in understanding and streamlining the issuance of the Sukuk in this innovative new manner. We are also thankful to the SBP for their guidance and support.” The PSX and book runners, NBP and Taurus Securities, did an admirable job considering the very tight timeline to undertake a very large, new issue. We are thankful to all of the above, and the investors, for making this issue a resounding success.”

“Unlike the Sukuk issuance by PHL last year, investors who could participate in this issue included Banks, Financial Institutions, Companies or Corporate Bodies (as per Companies Act 2017), Mutual Funds, Voluntary Pension Schemes, Private Funds being managed by NBFC’s, Insurance companies, Securities Brokers, Funds and Trusts (as defined in the Employees Contributory funds), and Individual Investors having net assets of at least Rs 2 million.

By widening the scope of potential investors, the issuer benefits as it increases the likelihood of more accurate price discovery, while a larger group of investors will benefit from this investment opportunity. Given that it is a Government backed security, such an issuance is generally considered risk free and provides stable returns in the long run.

After the security is listed, investors throughout Pakistan and abroad can buy or sell units of the Sukuk on the PSX BATS trading platform through their broker. This will provide liquidity and investors will be able to buy or sell the Sukuk in line with their investment objectives. In the long run, having a larger investor base will help the government to successfully raise funds from the market at the most competitive rates.

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