Banks

Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden (SBB), the Swedish social infastructure and residential property investment company, has mandated banks to lead a €500m no-grow perpetual non-call 5.25 year hybrid capital bond issue. Bankers off the trade expect it to fly.

Thales, the French defence company, sold a €500m bond on Wednesday that appears to have been priced with no new issue premium, or even at a fraction inside its curve, in a corporate bond market heavily weighted in borrowers’ favour.

Argenta Spaarbank returned to the euro market on Wednesday to seal a deal that it had pulled in last October. This time around the issuer was able to bring in the funding it wanted, even though the final spread only moved 5bp from initial price thoughts.

Denmark's Torm has signed $496m of bank loans, as new regulations affecting the global shipping industry take hold.

Ukraine set price guidance on a 10 year euro bond on Wednesday morning and books for the deal had grown to over €4.5bn by lunchtime.

Bahraini investment group Gulf Finance House printed its $300m five year sukuk on Tuesday from a book of more than $750m.

Investors flocked to a rare offering of restricted tier one (RT1) capital from Phoenix Group Holdings this week, allowing the insurance company to tighten pricing by 37.5bp. The bonds will form part of the financing for the UK firm’s acquisition of ReAssure Group from Swiss Re.

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) became the first issuer of non-preferred senior bonds in green format in sterling this week. The German lender took advantage of favourable market conditions to print in line with other recent sterling issuers.

Investors have been showing a clear preference for subordinated bank bonds in the primary market, with the valuations for more senior asset classes having been squeezed into extraordinarily tight levels in 2020.

Three CEE banks have announced new bond issues this week. Armenia's Ardshinbank has printed a $300m five year bond, Credit Bank of Moscow has initial price guidance out on a dollar five year benchmark and Sovcombank, another Russian bank, has released plans for a roadshow.

The Republic of the Philippines hit the market with a pair of euro benchmark bonds on Tuesday, making a rapid comeback to the currency.

Korea South-East Power Co (Kosep) and ReNew Power Private gave a further boost to the growing green bond market on Tuesday.