Banks

Credit spreads lurched wider at the beginning of the week, with investors reacting to reports of further cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus outside of China. The reaction fell short of panic, but bankers said that some issuers were moving to delay their plans for bond deals.

Artificial intelligence company Megvii Technology's Hong Kong IPO prospectus is set to expire on Tuesday. The company, which delayed its deal earlier in February, plans to resubmit a listing application, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Chinese travel services provider Trip.com Group has picked Standard Chartered as the mandated lead arranger and bookrunner for a $1.2bn refinancing deal.

Santander UK took advantage of improving sentiment in the euro market to launch a new senior bond from its holding company on Friday, while Hamburg Commercial Bank announced its intention to raise tier two capital.

Investors flocked to Indian credits on Thursday, as UPL Corp and Muthoot Finance sealed new dollar bonds in a busy market.

DBS Group Holdings raised $1bn from a record setting bank capital transaction on Thursday. With the order book more than five times subscribed, the Singaporean bank was able to seal its trade at the lowest coupon ever.

Three Chinese issuers visited the dollar bond market on Thursday, raising $1.2bn between them.

AK Medical Holdings has raised HK$803m ($103m) from a top-up placement of new shares that was launched on the back of a near 80% jump in its stock price year-to-date.

BMW Automotive Finance’s Rmb8bn ($1.14bn) dual-tranche return to the Chinese auto ABS market this week was a success. The tight pricing is expected to allow other issuers to also lower their coupons, said bankers on the deal.

Chinese delivery services company SF Express is planning to repay a HK$5bn ($640m) loan sealed in September 2019 with the proceeds of a longer tenor bond issued last week.

UBS has appointed Martin Yule as head of research for Asia Pacific, effective on March 1.

Twelve of the largest global investment banks reduced their headcounts in equities by 10% last year, leading to one of the “steepest declines in years” in the number of investment bank employees, according to analytics firm CRISIL Coalition.