Asia Pacific

Powerlong Real Estate sold a $250m five year non-call three bond at the end of last week. Many of the biggest mainland property names have been and gone already this year, making sub-benchmark deals more common. But a pipeline dominated by smaller and less well-known credits will not make execution any easier, said debt bankers.

Noble Group and Russian Agricultural Bank made their debuts in the dim sum market this week, launching dual Rmb1bn ($159m) three year deals on Wednesday. The dearth of issuance in the offshore renminbi market since the start of the year should have ensured good results for both borrowers, said bankers — but only Russian Agricultural managed to pull off a clear success.

Cosco Pacific priced a $300m 4.375% January 2023 deal at 265bp over Treasuries area as EuroWeek Asia went to press. Bank of China International, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and UBS managed the deal.

China Aoyuan Property Group returned to the market this week to add $100m to a deal that fell short last year, and this time it managed to attract even more investors than on its debut, said bankers.

Central China Real Estate priced a successful seven year non-call four deal at 8% this week, helped by its ownership structure and a pick-up over its secondary curve.

With deals by VTB Capital and Russian Agricultural Bank, Russians have made headlines in the dim sum market in 2013. Driven by arbitrage opportunities and a need for RMB, bankers expect more to come.

The SFC’s aim of allowing Hong Kong registered RMB funds to be sold directly into China and vice versa will boost the city’s fund industry as houses compete for a share of Mainland capital.

Risks for banks linked to the eurozone are "significant;" banks in emerging markets have better prospects, according to Moody's

Flash manufacturing PMI in China recorded a 2-year high in January, signalling import growth that will boost Latin American economies

The primary market picked up momentum on Thursday with three benchmark deals and one benchmark sized tap being syndicated. ANZ, Bankinter, KBC and Compagnie de Financement Foncier (CFF) unearthed a over €3bn of demand.

ANZ looks set to price the first sterling FRN since last May and its first ever covered bond in that currency. It has returned to the covered bond market for the first time this year to take advantage of swelling demand in sterling.