Firms are taking advantage of cheap debentures to pay off more expensive papers

04/08/2024

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Matheus Licarião — Foto: Carol Carquejeiro/Valor

Amid falling interest rates on debentures, Brazilian companies have been planning offerings aimed at paying off debts and repurchasing previous issues. About 40% of the issues of debentures registered in March aimed to manage liabilities, according to a survey made by Valor based on information sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil, known as CVM.

The current scenario is conducive to this type of operation. With lower rates and increased investor interest, companies are looking more at liabilities to find out “what can be improved, lengthened, or swapped for other debt,” said Getúlio Lobo, head of fixed income distribution at XP’s investment bank.

From now on, companies are expected to raise funds through longer-term securities to repurchase shorter-term debts, said Mr. Lobo. They could also negotiate with investors to exchange older securities for new debentures.

Not all companies will be able to exchange older papers for new ones, though. Companies with higher credit risk will hardly be able to do such a move because investors would not accept moving from expensive to cheap papers just to lengthen the company’s debt, said Matheus Licarião, head of debt capital markets at Santander.

“However, for companies with high-quality scores, asset managers will have to put money on the papers, even if the same asset is at a lower price,” he said. “Major asset managers are flush with cash and looking at the market to make new allocations.”

The increase in the maturity of issues seen in recent months contributes to more companies seeking offers for liability management. “We started to see ten-year, seven-year debentures, even in securities that are not incentivized. With the possibility of longer-term financing open for more predictable businesses, companies are expected to accept paying a little more to extend the terms of their debts,” said Felipe Wilberg, head of fixed income and structured products at Itaú BBA.

Of the 72 offerings filed last month, 28 are aimed at refinancing or paying off debts. Tecban, known for the Banco24Horas ATM network, and the MRV construction company launched offerings for that reason.

Of this total, 11 offerings had as a specific objective the early payment of other debentures. Among them are the offerings of the power distributor Equatorial Goiás, the automotive parts maker Iochpe Maxion, and the drugmaker Eurofarma.

The current interest of companies in issues aimed at repurchasing old debentures is also related to the crisis experienced by the corporate debt market in early 2023 after an accounting fraud at Americanas came to light.

As risk perception worsened, bond rates rose mainly during the first half of last year. But the companies’ need for credit has not changed, and many have had to raise funds in the capital market or directly with banks—and pay more for it.

“We always see demand for debt refinancing, but there is a stronger movement this year. Many companies were concerned in 2023 about liquidity and raised funds at a higher cost than usual and with shorter terms. They sought to replenish their cash reserves because they did not know how long the situation would last. Now, they are taking advantage of the overheated market to engage in liability management,” said Enrico Castro, head of debt capital markets at BNP Paribas Brasil.

The debenture market is experiencing a rally amid the prospect of a fall in the Selic policy rate and after several events that boosted demand. The first was the change in the taxation of exclusive funds, which increased the demand for corporate debt securities.

In February, new rules were announced for securities offerings such as real estate and agribusiness receivables certificates (CRI and CRA). Individual investors don’t pay income tax on these securities. The changes boosted the market for incentivized debentures—tax-exempt securities issued by infrastructure companies.

Falling interest rates should not last indefinitely. While this does not change, the list of future offerings continues to grow, especially of incentivized securities. “We see a robust pipeline of incentivized debenture issuances, considering current spreads that have been at the most competitive level for at least five years,” said Mr. Castro.

*Por Rita Azevedo — São Paulo

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/