Ecotricity EcoBonds - 7% fixed rate, 4 year term

LardyCake

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/ecobonds It looks like the obvious risk is: will the company be in a position to repay the loan in 4 years time. Any thoughts?

Lokolo

Hm I think if they take off, they will do quite well.

But I doubt they have a huge custom, never heard of them til now.

Hmmmm not sure. They have posted some finance info on the site ... http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/ecobonds/financial-performance

xrjtg

If you've got millions of pounds to invest, a few thousand in their bonds might not be such a bad thing, but then there will be a lot of competing options. If you have less, then diversification issues loom large.

They have all the downsides of corporate bonds, with the additional restriction of not being tradeable.

Zopa and Funding Circle are likely to offer similar or greater returns, are easier to diversify with as you can invest in smaller chunks, and with Funding Circle you have the additional options provided by a secondary market.

They're offering a 12% premium above something paying 4% AER over 4 years. If you're risk neutral, then by investing you'd be asserting the belief that there is (crudely) less than something like a 1 in 10 chance of them folding over the next few years. Personally, I'm not in a position to make that kind of judgement.

sabretoothtigger

Is it a real bond or savings account called a bond. Bonds have investment risk and you should demand a higher rate because its not guaranteed etc Theres better (risky) investments then this


7% over 4 years for savings would be good though its fixed, its a fair amount.



This parts interesting, they can tell which power stations are online and providing power in real time ?

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/about/live-grid-carbon-intensity

At this time it said 20% was nuclear and 5% renewable for 7 and 2 Gigawatt respectively

Is there a big football game tonight, would be interesting to see how it spikes

xrjtg

It is neither a savings account nor a standard corporate bond. Conceptually, I think it's close to a corporate bond that can't be resold, and can only be redeemed on anniversaries from the fourth onwards, with 6 months notice given.

Sceptic001

What are the comparable rates for corporate bonds issued by other electricity generators?

(Interesting website, sabretoothtigger. I wish they would also show the cost of generating each type of electricity. I note that 11% of my last bill was to cover the subsidy for renewables :mad:)

Loughton_Monkey

I personally would not touch it with a barge pole. However 'desirable' eco-electricity is, the cost of production is massive. Only idiots would choose to spend more to have 'green' electricity when everyone knows all electricity just comes from the National Grid anyway.

Well-intentioned tree-huggers would not be able to run a whelk stall.

"I'm out".

LardyCake

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

... Well-intentioned tree-huggers would not be able to run a whelk stall. ...

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/ecobonds/financial-performance

A._Badger

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

I personally would not touch it with a barge pole. However 'desirable' eco-electricity is, the cost of production is massive. Only idiots would choose to spend more to have 'green' electricity when everyone knows all electricity just comes from the National Grid anyway.

Well-intentioned tree-huggers would not be able to run a whelk stall.

"I'm out".

Moreover, once people wake-up to the amount they are being fleeced by 'Green' levies on their energy bills (and given the current economic situation that is likely to be sooner than later) a lot of this subsidy nonsense will simply have to stop.

Pity the people who have installed Southsea Bubble-style 'energy' systems, hoping to cash-in, when it all comes tumbling down!

Loughton_Monkey

LardyCake wrote: »

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/ecobonds/financial-performance

If this is meant to show solid accounts, why don't they show net profit? Like saying I earn £30K Gross, and only spend £25K (before paying tax, before paying my mortgage, and without taking into account the value of my company car depreciating at £5K a year!

Anyway.

I'm Out!

nommo

I am not offering any advice or opinion on this - nor am I going to say anything other than:

5 years Consolidated Group Statutory Accounts are available here: http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/ecobonds/financial-performance/our-accounts

That is all.