Barclays

Despite a disappointing performance in FICC, Barclays is standing firm on its plans to allocate more balance sheet to the division and continue its run of senior hires in the business.

NRW.Bank brought a large sterling bond this week that was more than doubly subscribed, in what was a “great outcome”, according to bankers away from the trade. The deal came as the UK Debt Management Office picked the tenor for its next syndication.

Another pair of public sector borrowers tapped the dollar market, hitting two and three years respectively, in contrast to Tuesday’s salvo of long end trades. One of the issuers printed well beyond its initial size expectations.

The European high yield bond pipeline this week brought €1bn of single-B rated offerings in euros and sterling from new issuers, giving hope to those working for a bigger borrower base for the market.

Ineos, the Anglo-Swiss chemicals manufacturer, cut costs on its term loans for the second time this year on Tuesday, after S&P joined Moody's in upgrading the rating of the new facility on Monday.

Euro corporate bond issuance was much cooler on Tuesday after Monday’s fireworks. “Maybe everybody parties on day one and is a bit hung over on day two,” mused one syndicate banker.

Wind Tre, the Italian telecoms company, issued its €7.3bn senior secured bond deal on Tuesday, a day ahead of schedule, and priced all four tranches at the tight end of guidance.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) brought its long awaited inaugural dollar transaction to market on Tuesday during a period of feverish activity in a dollar market that is “going from strength to strength”, according to one SSA banker.

Shares in Bawag, the Austrian banking group, closed below their offer price on Wednesday after the company priced its €1.68bn IPO at €48 a share, near the bottom of the initial €47 to €52 range.

Has Europe’s corporate bond market ever been hotter than today? Perhaps, but Monday’s four investment grade deals totalling €7.4bn offered ample evidence of extraordinary demand — not least, what is believed to be the most tightly priced corporate hybrid capital issue ever, for Danone.

One of the biggest IPOs in London this year was revealed on Monday when Arqiva, the UK’s largest operator of TV and radio broadcast towers, launched an IPO with a projected valuation of about £5.5bn.

NRW.Bank is set to return to the sterling market on Tuesday, coming on the heels of a tap from the Council of Europe Development Bank.