PEREGRINE Derivatives issued 250 million two-year covered warrants in HSBC Holdings yesterday, on terms that placed the issue premium at 20.3 per cent. The conversion ratio is 10 for one, making the issue covered on 25 million HSBC shares at a strike price of $63.50. With a price of $1.35 each, the premium is about four per cent below the more usual issue terms and the gearing is 4.74, according to a Peregrine source. The warrants, which trade in 4,000 board lots, expire on February 20, 1995. It is understood the issue was timed and priced in the wake of the most recent Barclays de Zoete Wedd (BZW) issue in HSBC. While that issue was successful, it has lost much of its attractive value since trading began. The Peregrine warrant represented a more efficient means of exposure to HSBC shares as the cost of buying the warrant as a percentage of the cost of buying the share was 36 per cent for the BZW warrant and 21.1 per cent in the Peregrine issue. According to Peregrine, the estimated 1994 prospective price-earnings ratio in 1994 is 6.35.
