Article Details
  • Published Online:
    January  2025
  • Product Name:
    The IUP Journal of Applied Finance
  • Product Type:
    Article
  • Product Code:
    IJAF010125
  • DOI:
    10.71329/IUPJAF/2025.31.1.5-21
  • Author Name:
    Sunil Kumar Parameswaran and Sankarshan Basu
  • Availability:
    YES
  • Subject/Domain:
    Finance
  • Download Format:
    PDF
  • Pages:
    5-21
Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2025
Determinants of Premium Bond Yields: An Analytical Study
Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between coupon rate, current yield, yield to maturity, and yield to call for bonds. The findings reveal that the relationship is stable for par and discount bonds, whether they are valued on a coupon date or between coupon dates. However, when a plain vanilla premium bond is valued between coupon dates, the relationship depends on the price of the bond. There are two threshold prices and three corresponding price ranges, and the relationship between the return metrics depends on which range the price of the bond falls. Additionally, the paper examines the callable bonds and the related concept of the yield to call. The analysis is performed by first assuming the absence of a call premium and subsequently by incorporating a call premium. Once again, the relationship between the return metrics is stable for par and discount bonds. However, in the case of premium bonds, there are multiple threshold prices and corresponding price ranges. The paper also examines the impact of the parameters that influence the bond price on the threshold prices.

Introduction

The rate of return from a bond is measured using various metrics such as coupon rate, current yield (CY) and yield to maturity (YTM), and for callable bonds, yield to call (YTC). Bond dealers use the CY as a rough measure of the cost or profit from holding a bond.