Covered Bonds

UniCredit’s German subsidiary, HVB, did well to issue a €750m seven year Pfandbrief on Tuesday, but with Italian headline risk flaring up again, it may have paid slightly over the odds.

UniCredit’s German subsidiary, HVB, has announced plans to issue a seven year euro benchmark Pfandbrief, its first covered bond in over a year. At the same time Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) plans to issue a dollar benchmark three year Pfandbrief.

A comparison of the redemption schedule for core European covered bonds versus redemptions from the European Central Bank’s asset purchase programme suggests that spreads in the asset class will start to stabilise in May 2019, after suffering a period of widening.

Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) broadened its investor base on Friday with its first sterling covered bond in six years. The deal was set to price in line with a similar five year Sonia-linked bond issued this week by Coventry Building Society but with less demand. Even so, supply hopes remain alive.

DBS Bank is planning a roadshow ahead of its first dollar covered bond in over three years, and the first from a Singaporean bank since February 2017. The expected deal follows two large Canadian benchmarks and shows that dollar covered bond funding is becoming more compelling than euros.

A feasibility study on prospective issuance of European Secured Notes (ESN) — a dual recourse structure that works like a covered bond — suggests good potential for demand but limited scope for supply. Even so, setting up a legislative framework is probably a good idea as circumstances may change, the study has concluded.

DNB Boligkreditt took the opportunity on Wednesday to pre-fund as the start of next year is expected to be volatile. The DNB Bank subsiduary issued one of the largest five year covered bonds of 2018. Despite its large size, the deal was priced with a tight new issue concession.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) offered Swiss investors a rare chance to buy its debt with a seven year covered bond from a rare name on Tuesday.

Coventry Building Society became the first financial institution to issue a five year Sonia-linked covered deal on Tuesday, just beating Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) to the punch.

DZ Hyp this week issued its first Pfandbrief following the merger of DG Hyp and WL Bank. At €1bn, the deal was larger than most and, though it was priced much tighter than a range of non-German seven year deals, it did land at the widest level for a German bank of this rating in over two years.

Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) and Coventry Building Society have mandated leads for the first five year Sonia-linked covered bonds, Lloyds is out with the first Reg S dollar covered bond from a UK issuer in years, and DZ Hyp has mandated leads for the first deal under its new brand name. Elsewhere, Bank of Nova Scotia has opened order books for a three year sterling tap.

Covered bond spreads are likely to be wider in January when supply typically peaks, making a good argument for pre-funding this November and giving optimism to some bankers. However, while there are a few projects slated for next week, other bankers do not believe an avalanche of deals is likely.