Bank of America

The primary corporate bond market in Europe threw up another blistering day on Wednesday, with seven issuers on screens by mid-morning, bringing the number of deals so far this week to 18, though bond syndicate desks are hesitant to compare this crisis market with the record-breaking issuance in 2009.

Carnival Cruises, the world’s largest leisure travel company, is rolling the dice on a coronavirus rescue package, launching a $1.25bn underwritten rights issue, $1.75bn convertible bond, and a $3bn dual currency high yield bond.

A string of well rated companies are preparing to issue bonds in the coming days, as syndicate desks are heartened by the continued ample demand from investors. Anheuser-Busch InBev, Volkswagen Financial Services and Thermo Fisher Scientific raised a total of €7.85bn in euros today, despite a rocky market.

Mainland-based Kangji Medical Holdings is seeking approval to list in Hong Kong. It has filed an IPO application with the city’s bourse.

The euphoria that infused Europe’s corporate bond market from Tuesday to Thursday has cooled somewhat, although investors are still open for business. Bankers had said on Thursday that Friday would bring an interesting crop of deals, but there is only one, for paper company Mondi, rated Baa1/BBB+.

US companies have smashed the all time record for bond issuance this month, as they plundered the dollar market in a headlong dash for liquidity that continued on Thursday, even though a darker record was broken: 3.3m new unemployment claims, more than four times the previous highest.

A trio of UK companies drew down on their revolving credit facilities this week, as firms in the country build up their cash piles despite an unprecedented financial support package from the government.

Europe’s corporate bond market showed the same kind of energy on Tuesday that the US market did three times last week, as a clutch of blue chip issuers launched new deals on the very first day of stability the market offered. Sanofi found huge demand and only a slight slowness from the UK being in lockdown.

Diageo, the UK distiller and brewer, poured a triple tranche trade into Tuesday's busy primary corporate bond market, as syndicate bankers said the high grade companies on screen were the some of the best names to raise spirits.

Germany's Covestro and the UK's 3i have both signed new revolving credit facilities with terms that were agreed before the Covid-19 pandemic sent markets plunging, but lenders said that new deals will have far higher margins.

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has hired Bank of America and UBS to lead a secondary listing in Hong Kong, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

That nine US companies and banks should launch bonds the day after a 12% fall in the S&P 500 index, the worst since 1987, is astonishing, but probably shows that companies are anxious to bank large quantities of cash in case markets get worse. The barrage of issuance comes despite core fixed income markets such as Treasuries, swaps and commercial paper being under strain.