EDF Energy is considering entering an interest rate swap on the back of a recent GBP300 million (USD462 million) bond issue. Brij Kalia, treasury operations manager in London, said the company did not enter a swap at the same time as it issued the bond because its parent company EDF Group is satisfied with its fixed to floating-rate debt ratio. He expects, however, that as more fixed-rate debt is issued across EDF's subsidiaries he will be asked to convert the bond to a floating rate.
"We choose counterparties firstly for their credit rating, and then for competitivity of pricing" said Kalia, explaining EDF Energy will ask for pricing from its relationship banks as well as others.
The bond matures in March 2024 and pays a fixed-rate coupon of 5.75%. HSBC and The Royal Bank of Scotland were the bookrunners.
