I owned units in Hyflux Water Trust in the past. That investment did very well for me and, unfortunately, the Trust was privatised not too long ago. Read blog post here.
Back in 2009, I was also considering between Hyflux and E-pure as beneficiaries of a global search for solutions to water problems. I went with E-pure simply because of valuation reasons. I have no doubt that Hyflux is a strong company in a strong industry too except that its valuation has always been too rich for me.
However, the news that Hyflux is issuing preference shares with an annual dividend rate of 6% is somewhat surprising to me. In an environment of low interest rates, isn't paying a 6% interest a bit expensive? It would only make sense to do this if borrowing from a financial institution would be costlier and it would only be costlier if the company ......