Argentina

Three Argentine companies sold dollar deals this week to bring welcome new supply to EM investor portfolios but it was a familiar story on pricing as even the duo of debut issuers in the market offered slim pickings in terms of concession.

Energy company Genneia has become the first Argentine company to tap international bond markets this year with a tap of its existing bonds that bodes well for a likely debut from its peer SMU Energy later in the week.

Government-owned water utility AySA (Agua y Saneamientos Argentinos) joined energy companies Genneia and MSU Energy in the pipeline on Thursday as this year’s corporate supply from Argentina looks set to start next week.

Energy companies Genneia and MSU Energy will begin meeting bond investors this week as they look to become the first corporates from Argentina to tap cross-border debt markets this year.

Genneia could return to international bond markets soon, according to market participants in Argentina, after the energy company’s board approved an increase of its global bond programme.

Below-freezing temperatures in New York that left several EM bond market participants working from home on Thursday could not stop Latin American borrowers from bringing early heat to 2018.

Emerging market bond fund managers say they are markedly more optimistic than 12 months ago when the "whole world was negative" after the start of Donald Trump’s US presidential term. And with plenty of sovereign trades rumoured for January, there is an abundance of investment opportunities.

After a record 2017, Latin America bond markets had a quiet start to 2018 on Tuesday but syndicate bankers covering the region said that they had a hefty pipeline and would start bringing deals as soon as possible.

Luis Caputo, Argentina’s finance minister, said that the sovereign will raise $30bn of new debt across domestic and external markets in 2018, as the government intends to continue reducing its financing from the central bank.

One of Argentina’s poorest provinces is considering returning to international bond markets in January, according to buy-side sources in Buenos Aires.

Mexican payroll lender Alpha Holdings sold its inaugural cross-border bond deal on Tuesday, becoming the latest in a growing group of Lat Am non-bank lenders to have issued internationally.

Argentine state oil and gas giant YPF drew a flatter than expected curve with a new 30 year deal on Thursday, following a debut issuance from its private sector rival Tecpetrol earlier in the week.