Bonds in finance
| Bonds in finance |
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Bond (finance) is an instrument of indebtedness of the bond issuer to the holders. This is a long-term, interest-paying loan raised by a government or a company to finance expenditure or investment, redeemed after a fixed period.
Government bonds, which can last up to 30 years or more, are known as Treasury notes and Treasury bonds in the US and Treasury stock, gilt-edged stock or just gilts in Britain.
Large corporate borrowers find it cheaper to borrow directly by issuing bonds (usually underwritten by an investment bank) than to borrow from a commercial bank.
Features of bonds
- Principal- the amount of capital making up a loan. It is calculated multiplying Par Value and Price (represented as percentage).
- Maturity date- the date on which bond will be repaid, usually 5 to 10 years.
- Face value/nominal value/par value – the price written on a security (which never changes).
- Coupon- the amount of interest paid by bond. The buyers of bond lend money to the issuer and generally receive fixed, six-monthly or annual interest payments.
- Yield- the rate of income a bondholder receives, taking into account the bond's purchase price.
Types of bonds
Some companies issue floating- rate notes -bonds whose coupon varies with market interest rates- especially when interest rates are high and expected to fall.
If they wish to pay a lower interest rate, companies can also issue convertible bonds, which are that' give the owner the option to exchange them for a fixed number of shares of the company's common stock. Convertibles pay lower interest than ordinary bonds because the buyer gets the possibility rates of making a profit with the convertible option, and their value increases if the stock price rises.
Some companies also issue warrants attached to bonds, giving the right, but not the obligation, to buy stocks in the future at a particular price. Although they are usually issued with bonds, warrants can be detached from the bonds and traded separately. Like convertibles, they allow an issuer to reduce the interest rate that the bond offers.
Some companies issue zero coupon bonds which pay no interest but are sold at a discount on their par value, and redeemed at 100% at maturity. Some investors buy them in order make a capital gain at maturity, which is taxed at a lower rate than that applied to interest payments.
bonds that pay a high interest rate are called high yield bonds or junk bonds. Some are finance leveraged buyouts, others are issued by companies with a credit rating below investment grade, and therefore with a higher risk of default.
Finance risk of bonds trade
Corporate bonds are generally considered to be safer than stocks, because a company that cannot repay its debts can be declared bankrupt and have its assets sold it repay creditors, including bondholders. However, a company's financial situation can change during the life of a bond. Furthermore, on average stocks pay a higher return than bonds over the medium or long term. Issuers are given credit ratings or credit rating agencies. The highest grade (Aaa or AAA) means that there is virtually no risk of default ;lower grades (e.g. AA BBB, BB, B +, etc.) indicate progressively greater degrees of risk that the borrower will not be able it repay Governments and companies with higher credit ratings can borrow at lower rates.
Tax deductible bonds
For companies, debt financing (issuing bonds) has an advantage over equity financing (issuing stocks) in that bond interest is tax deductible: companies deduct interest payments from their profits before paying tax, whereas dividends paid to stockholders come from already-taxed profits. On the other hand, debt has to repaid, unlike equities which do not, and unlike dividends, bond interest has to be paid, even in a year without any profits it deduct it from.
The price of bonds
bonds are traded on the secondary market by banks and brokerage companies which act as a market-makers on behalf of their customers. Bond traders make a market with a bid price at which they buy and an offer price at which they sell, with a very small spread between them. The price of bonds on the secondary market includes accrued interest.
The price of bonds varies inversely with interest rates. If interest rates, so new bond issues pay a higher rate, existing bonds lose value, and sell for less than the nominal value (below par). Conversely if interest rates fall, existing bonds paying more than the market rate will logically increase in value, and rates more trade above par. Therefore, the yield of bond depends on both its purchase price and its coupon.
References
- Deacon, M., Derry, A., & Mirfendereski, D. (2004). Inflation-indexed securities: bonds, swaps and other derivatives. John Wiley & Sons.
- Wood, P. R. (1997). International loans, bonds, and securities regulation. Sweet & Maxwell.
- Farhi, E., & Tirole, J. (2008). Competing liquidities: corporate securities, real bonds and bubbles (No. w13955). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Author: Dominika Kubik
