It is important to note that issuing bonds is a way to raise money for a company alongside stocks and other forms of receiving investments. Verizon Communications or Verizon, is a telecommunications company headquartered in NYC, NY. It is reported that it “is a holding company that, acting through its subsidiaries, is one of the world’s leading providers of communications, technology, information and entertainment products, and services to consumers, businesses and government entities” (Verizon Communications Inc., 2021, p. 4). In other words, Verizon owns a number of large companies, such as Yahoo, which provide a range of telecommunications services, which include internet provision, connection technology, wireless services, wireless equipment, and entertainment. The approximate net worth of the company is equal to $194 billion as of April 2022.
Unlike many other companies, Verizon Communications Inc. is one of the highest issuers of corporate bonds since it raises investment money primarily through this means. In other words, Verizon is highly active in issuing bonds for investors with differential percent values and due dates. The key feature of the bonds issued by Verizon is the fact that they are green bonds comprised of notes for various improvements to achieve a higher level of sustainability. It is stated that “in February 2019, Verizon became the first U.S. telecom company to issue a green bond and remains a leader in the industry with the allocation of three green bonds” (Wilkens, 2022, para. 2). One of these bonds includes Class A notes of Verizon Master Trust of Series 2021-1 Asset Backed Notes. These notes have an initial note balance of $1,500,500,000 with an interest rate of 0.5% and a maturity rate of 2027 (Verizon, 2021). A diverse set of assets are used in combination as the collaterals for the bonds, which ensures their security and reliability. Class A notes of Verizon have such as a small interest rate due to the high level of security and the presence of collateral assets backing these securities.
In order to determine the value and risk of the bond, it is important to understand the concept of present value and future value of money under the framework of the time value of money or TVM. The face value for corporate bonds is $1000, and “the issuing entity will pay interest on the notes on the 20th day of each month” (Verizon, 2021, p. 1). In addition, “the first payment date will be July 20, 2021 … the final maturity date is May 20, 2027” (Verizon, 2021, p. 1). The risk of a bond is low due to the assets backing the notes as well as the company’s own market position as a holding company rather than a subsidiary (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2020). The formula to calculate the future value of a $1000 bond for the given duration and payment period is:
Future Value = Present Value (1 + r) n =
= 1000 (1 + 0.005) 71 =
= 1000 * 1.00571 =
= 1000 * 1.425 =
= $1425
In conclusion, corporate bonds issued by Verizon can be considered secure due to strong collateral and the whole strategy behind them. The calculation above demonstrates how the concept of the time value of money can be applied to Verizon’s corporate bonds in order to see the true value of the matured bonds compared to their face value today. It is evident that investors should consider investing in corporate bonds if they seek to diversify their portfolios and have no access to government bonds since the latter requires a higher face value.
References
Brigham, E. F., & Ehrhardt, M. C. (2020). Financial management: Theory and practice (16th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Verizon Communications Inc. (2021). Form 10-k [PDF document]. Web.
Verizon. (2021). Series 2021-1 asset backed notes [PDF document]. Web.
Wilkens, E. (2022). Verizon fully allocates third $1 billion green bond.News Center. Web.