Banks

Argenta Spaarbank, Belfius Bank and Jyske Bank took differing approaches to sell €500m no-grow senior bonds this week — Argenta offered a substantial new issue premium, while the latter pair pushed their pricing close to fair value.

Risk appetite has returned to the high grade corporate bond market this week, as investors looked to snap up what they could before presidential election volatility and earnings blackouts create a desolate primary market.

Europe’s high grade corporate market was red hot this week with bulging order books and negative concessions, as concerns about scant primary supply to come washed away investor jitters about a collapsed $2.2tr fiscal stimulus deal in the US.

Swedish krona SSA volumes are at a record high this year, spurred on by a handful of jumbo supranational deals sold at wider spreads during the second quarter. However, the market has since tightened, and bankers expect it to have a more muted end to 2020.

Raiffeisen Schweiz surpassed expectations with a self-led additional tier one (AT1) deal on Wednesday, printing Sfr525m ($572.4m) after finding strong international demand.

Crédit Agricole and Nykredit Realkredit were able to push aggressively on pricing in the additional tier one (AT1) market this week, as they took advantage of favourable supply and demand dynamics.

Almost two-thirds of companies are still not prepared for the transition away from Libor, as lenders in London say they are in “intensive” discussions with clients and NatWest writes to thousands of corporate clients about the switch to risk free rates.

A top-level reshuffle suggests that Barclays chief executive Jes Staley is not going anywhere, but raises fresh questions about whether the bank’s top-five ambitions are achievable, writes David Rothnie.

Europe’s investment grade corporate bond market saw trades from the Covid-19 rocked real estate sector on Thursday, with Immofinanz and Heimstaden Bostad attracting less demand than recent similarly rated trades.

Unédic returned for another social benchmark on Thursday, adding to the slew of successful French agency SRI-themed paper.

KfW could be set to hit screens with a euro benchmark next week in what may be its final public deal in the currency this year, according to bankers. The bond is likely to come with a seven year maturity, a tenor that the Free State of Saxony struggled with on Thursday, finishing with the book only around half covered.

Dürr, the unrated German mechanical and plant engineering firm, is guiding investors on its final day of marketing towards it issuing a €250m bond with a yield aligned to issuers in the double-B ratings bracket.