Barclays

After the extraordinary fireworks of Santander’s €7.5bn block trade on Thursday January 8, the year’s more workaday business in European equity capital markets began in earnest on Monday, as five IPOs were launched.

Telecom Italia, Italy’s largest telecommunications operator, on Monday brought to the high yield market the first €1bn issue of the year, as part of a plan to repay slices of four other bonds.

Gecina, the French real estate investment trust, issued a €500m 10 year bond on Monday, attracting a vast order book and paying a small new issue premium.

A week before the European Central Bank is expected to announce a programme of quantitative easing and Greece elects its next president, investors are loading up on senior unsecured paper from top names in FIG, and being paid big new issue premiums. Investors are demanding more in part because of fears of volatility in coming weeks stemming from the ECB and Greece, bankers said.

Export Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) was back in the international debt market on January 12, opening books to a SEC-registered dual tranche benchmark transaction that is split between a five year and a 10 year.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) made its return to the offshore debt market on Thursday, January 8, raising a total of $2.25bn through a triple tranche dollar bond that attracted strong demand from investors and allowed bankers to price the deal flat to the borrower’s existing curve.

The Epiphany holidays in Europe on Tuesday may have disrupted the issuance calendar for the week, but that didn’t stop issuers from printing over €15.5bn of senior unsecured debt in just two days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Barclays Bank re-opened the primary covered bond market on Monday by issuing a £1bn ($1.51bn) three year sterling benchmark, and was followed by a pair of Canadian borrowers.

The Republic of Turkey re-opened the CEEMEA bond market in 2015 on Wednesday with a $1.5bn tap of its 2043s. Turbulence across EM and falling oil prices played to Turkey’s favour with the bond offering a haven to nervous investors. But as a result of the recent volatility, the country paid a decent new issue premium, bringing in a $5bn book.

After Barclays overhauled its investment bank last year, it must prove it can deliver its strategy in 2015, writes David Rothnie.

The Republic of Turkey re-opened the CEEMEA bond market in 2015 on Wednesday with a $1.5bn tap of its 2043s. Turbulence across EM and falling oil prices played to Turkey’s favour with the bond offering a haven to nervous investors. But as a result of the recent volatility, the country paid a decent new issue premium, bringing in a $5bn book.

China Huarong Asset Management is back in the market, launching a multi-tranche trade in dollars as it looks to become one of the first Asian companies to tap the debt market this year.