Austria

An abundance of cheap central bank funding has negated the need to issue short dated covered bonds but access to competitive funding at the long end would provide a compelling reason for issuers to return to the primary market, said bankers on Monday. A seven year transaction mandated by Hypo Noe on Monday is likely to provide a test of investor appetite.

Issuance in the financial institutions bond market had a preferred senior flavour this week, with issuers finding this the most cost-effective funding compared with other asset classes. In addition, some of them can use it to fulfil regulatory requirements.

Nordea Bank and Erste Group Bank were marketing preferred senior bonds on Wednesday, finding demand in the seven year part of the curve following a flurry of five year deals earlier this week.

Austria made a rare trip to the dollar market last Thursday as it raised $600m via a reverse enquiry-led private placement, GlobalCapital understands.

Underwriting banks must subscribe to 30% of AMS's Sfr1.75bn (£1.81bn) rights issue after the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus smashed the Austrian sensor maker's share price during the offer period. Equity capital market sources said they have never seen a market which is so bad for issuance.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, March 30. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

Mondi, the paper company based in the UK and Austria, raised €750m on Friday to refinance its €500m bond maturing in September, and put some extra cash by in case of trouble, with a bond issue that it went ahead with on a down day for equities, even as some other companies opted not to issue.

Rating: Aa1/AA+/AA+

Public sector borrowers returned en masse to the primary bond market this week, with many selling new issues with an explicit focus on providing emergency financing in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The SSA market appears to be well and truly up and running, with four SSA borrowers hitting screens for new bonds in euros on Thursday, pulling in an impressive €11.5bn with deals from three to 30 years

The Republic of Austria and the African Development Bank announced new bond transactions on Wednesday which will be used to provide emergency financing in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) acted this week to protect their economies against the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.