Market Reactions to Announcements of Valuation Losses on Conversion Rights Embedded in Convertible Instruments

Abstract

Convertible instruments are financial instruments embedded with conversion rights such as convertible bonds or convertible preferred stocks. Under the Korean International Financial Reporting Standards (K-IFRS), the embedded conversion rights with certain conditions (i.e., a refixing clause) are recognized as derivative liabilities and are recognized at fair value in issuer’s financial statements. Since the value of convertible rights varies with the underlying stock value, an increase in the issuers’ stock price causes the issuers of convertible instruments to announce large derivative valuation losses. Using disclosures under the title of ‘Loss from Derivatives Trading’ from the KOREA EXCHANGE (KRX) during January 2016 through December 2019, this study examines market reactions to the disclosure of valuation losses on conversion rights embedded in convertible instruments. We find the following results. First, abnormal stock returns on the loss announcement date are significantly negative. Second, abnormal trading volumes peak on the loss announcement date. Third, abnormal stock returns persist in the long-term. Collectively, our findings suggest that investors perceive the loss disclosures as negative news, but fail to impound the information into issuer’s stock prices effectively. This study emphasizes the importance of education on convertible instruments and improvement in the disclosure requirements on valuation losses of conversion rights embedded in convertible instruments by providing evidence that investors face difficulty in understanding the related disclosures.