Barclays

The socially responsible investment market in SSAs is picking up pace in 2019, with a supranational bringing a deal in a debut format and other issuers preparing inaugural trades.

IBM returned to the euro corporate bond market for the first time since 2017 on Thursday, to sell its largest ever deal in the euro market and to push into a maturity not seen from a corporate issuer so far in 2019.

World Bank on Thursday added to a record breaking start to the year for public sector sterling issuance with yet another large trade. A German agency is set to bring another deal this Friday in a market that shows no signs of slowing down.

Oesterreichische Kontrollbank’s decision to mix up this week’s dollar supply with a three year benchmark reaped rewards on Thursday, as it recorded one of its largest ever allocations to central banks and one of its tightest ever US Treasury spreads. But some SSA bankers believe the dollar market might need a “breather” after a rampant start to the year.

The public sector dollar market on Wednesday showed that it had more than enough depth to cope with a pair of issuers bringing deals in the same maturity with just a basis point of difference in initial price thoughts, as both trades came in size and at tightened pricing. Another agency is set to dip into the demand on Thursday.

Following the success of Engie’s green hybrid bond the previous week, the French energy company’s Portuguese peer, EDP, launched its own version on Wednesday. While EDP’s deal did not achieve quite the same demand or tight pricing, the result was still a good one.

Three sterling deals hit the SSA market on Tuesday, bringing this year’s total volume to more than double last year’s and indicating that issuers and investors are yet to be put off by the confusion surrounding Brexit.

Two SSA borrowers will go head to head in the dollar market on Wednesday, bringing five year benchmarks with only 1bp difference in initial price thoughts.

Spain came to market on Tuesday, printing its traditional January 10 year euro benchmark and receiving an overwhelming level of demand.

Two US PP institutional investors headquartered in the US are considering lending to UK borrowers for the first time this year.

Leveraged finance markets in Europe are looking up, and bankers expect they may even see some deals priced before long.

Export Development Canada is set to become the fourth public sector borrower to issue a debut Sonia bond this year, after picking banks on Monday for a three year bond linked to the reference rate. Meanwhile, KfW will return for its second sterling benchmark of 2019, sticking with a five year maturity it issued in earlier in the month.