The prices of the bonds issued by Romanian online retailer Vivre, with generous coupons attached of 5.25% (for the issue maturing 2025) and 5.5% (for the issue maturing 2026), kept plunging on May 3.

The price of VIV25E bonds closed at 69.4% of the face value while that of VIV26E at 66.5%. These are the lowest prices for entrepreneurial financing in the history of BVB.

Those who bought Vivre bonds on May 3 can register a yield of 21% and 16% in euros, respectively, Ziarul Financiar daily said. What the daily fails to mention is that the brave buyers of May 3 (there were not many) may lose 100% of their money as well.

The investors eventually learned what a non-guaranteed bond means, Bursa daily commented in a column. The first question that investors should have asked themselves when buying Vivre bonds (and other corporate bonds promising similarly high returns) is why the bond issuers willing to pay 8-9% for local currency bonds and 5-8% for EUR denominated bonds did not get better terms from banks? 

andrei@romania-insider.com

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