TrustPower plans $150m bond issue

Tauranga-based TrustPower hopes to launch a $150 million retail bond programme to fund investment and tidy up its capital structure.

TrustPower directors said yesterday that the bonds, which are unsecured and subordinated, would have a $1 face value.

Shareholders will vote on the bond issue at the AGM on August 29.

The five-year Series 07 bond will pay 8.3 per cent interest a year, and the 10-year Series 12 bonds will pay 8.5 per cent a year.

Investors will have to pay at least $5000 to secure the bonds.

"The bond programme has been set up to provide the company with an alternative source of funding for new investment opportunities and to achieve a more efficient capital structure," TrustPower said.

TrustPower, majority owned by utilities investor Infratil, Alliant International NZ, The Australian Gas Light Co and the unlisted Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust, has 33 mainly hydro-generating stations and about 290,000 retail customers.

- NZPA