Indian Railway tax free bonds issue to open on January 21

As per the terms of the CBDT notification, the aggregate volume of the issue of bonds by the company during the fiscal 2013 shall not exceed Rs 10,000 crore.

The company has already raised Rs 1,113.6 crore through the private placements of bonds. "In case company raises any further funds through private placement not exceeding Rs 2,500 crore, i.e. upto 25% of the allocated limit for raising funds through tax free bonds during fiscal year 2013, during the process of the present issue, the shelf limit for the issue shall get reduced by such amount raised," the company said in its draft prospectus.

In case of series I, the interest rate of 7.68 percent is applicable to retail investors and HUFs while for the qualified institutional buyers and HNIs the interest rate is 7.18 percent.

In case of series II, the interest rate of 7.84 percent is applicable to retail investors and HUFs while for the qualified institutional buyers and HNIs the interest rate is 7.34 percent.

Investors will received the payment of interest on annual basis and these bonds will get redeemed after 10 (Series I) & 15 (Series II) years from the deemed date of allotment.

Bids can be made for a minimum of 5 bonds and in multiples of one bond thereafter.

SBI Capital Markets Limited, A.K. Capital Services Limited, Enam Securities Private Limited, ICICI Securities Limited and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited are the book running lead managers to the issue.

Rating agencies namely CRISIL, CARE and ICRA have assigned AAA rating with stable outlook.

The bonds are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE within 12 working days of the respective issue closing date.

Strong Sell on MRC Global - Analyst Blog

Zacks Investment Research downgraded MRC Global Inc. (MRC) to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong sell) on Jul 2, 2013.

Why the Downgrade?

Weak top-line results in the last quarter as well as below expected sales outcome in the two months ended May 2013 resulted in lower earnings estimates for MRC Global.

As per recent disclosures, management of MRC Global revised its revenue guidance down from $5.75-$5.95 billion to $5.4-$5.8 billion for 2013 while it anticipates the second quarter 2013 revenue to range within $1.25-$1.35 billion.

Line pipe sales are expected to be $100 million below the original forecast and roughly 10% down on a year-over-year basis for the second quarter 2013. The same is expected to be down roughly $300 million year over year for 2013. MRC Global's OCTG sales are expected to be down $70 million for the second quarter 2013 and $200 million for 2013 compared with their respective year-ago periods.

A weak revenue outlook as well as lower earnings guidance raises skepticism over the financial results in the quarters ahead. Currently, for MRC Global, we have an Earnings ESP (Read: Zacks Earnings ESP: A Better Method) of -5.0% for the second quarter 2013, -5.0% for 2013 and -0.4% for 2014.

Also in the last 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2013 has gone down by 11.9% to $1.99 while for 2014, the estimate decreased 8.9% to $2.47.

Other Stocks to Consider

MRC Global primarily engages in the distribution of pipes, valves, and fittings (PVF), and related products and services to the energy industry worldwide. The company currently has a $2.9 billion market capitalization.

Other stocks to watch out for in the industry are Mueller Water Products, Inc. (MWA), Valmont Industries, Inc. (VMI) and W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW).