Banks

The UK’s RPS Group, a professional services consultancy firm, has signed a £60m short term revolving credit facility that sits alongside its main bank revolver, as borrowers continue to build their access to liquidity in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pension Insurance Corp was almost 12 times subscribed for a new tier two capital bond on Thursday, after following some of its UK peers into the sterling market amid a busy pipeline for new pension risk transfer deals.

Market participants argued that the European Commission could have gone further this week to ease leverage ratio constraints on banks during the coronavirus crisis.

Société Générale’s equities division posted a 99% year-on-year drop in revenues for the first quarter on Thursday, contributing to an overall loss in both the wholesale division and for the bank overall.

The high grade corporate primary market was receptive to issuance again on Wednesday, as syndicate bankers predicted this would bode well for what is expected to be a blockbuster May.

Robert Bosch, the German engineering group, has signed a €3bn revolving credit facility, as lenders warn that smaller companies in the same industry will find it harder to get financing.

Equity collars rarely make a public appearance in Asia’s capital markets. but Citi has shone a light on the product, after using a block trade to hedge its position in a collar it had structured for a high net worth client. Bankers think the deal will drive more demand for the structure. Jonathan Breen reports.

Hong Kong-listed Country Garden Services Holdings made its equity-linked debut this week, tapping investors for HK$3.88bn ($500m) with a sub-one year zero coupon convertible bond.

The Republic of Lithuania joined the ranks of top tier emerging markets issuers proving their access to bond markets in the teeth of the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, as it broke its issuance record with a €2bn dual tranche trade.

Chinese developer Gemdale has backtracked on plans to cut the coupon on an outstanding renminbi bond by 379bp, after a backlash from investors.

Rabobank has become the first Dutch bank to enter the credit markets in over two months, after launching a non-preferred senior bond on Wednesday. The issuer tacked on a call option, which bankers say are cheap to deliver in the market at the moment.

Barclays’ revenue from markets in the first quarter was its best ever, the bank said, but another large figure overshadowed this: credit provisions across the group came in at more than double the consensus estimate, on the basis of macroeconomic assumptions seen as conservative and a £300m hit from low oil prices.