BNP Paribas

The 15 year tenor is the flavour of the week in the SSA market. Three issuers have mandated for deals at the tenor so far, following on from NRW.Bank’s successful trip to the maturity on Tuesday.

Ukraine was set to issue a highly anticipated bond on Wednesday, having started pricing with what some experts called "impressive" initial price thoughts. The deal follows one from Poland, which secured three year money at a negative yield in euros on Tuesday.

Europe’s investment grade corporate bond market acquired a more cheerful tone on Tuesday, with new issues well oversubscribed, despite quickly shifting sentiment.

NRW.Bank signalled to the market that there is demand at 15 years with its inaugural social bond on Tuesday. Following the deal two other European issuers, Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten and Portugal, mandated for deals of their own in the tenor.

Weir Group, the UK engineering company, has signed bank lines totalling $1.19bn, but amid coronavirus-related market volatility, banks required a higher margin than on the deal being refinanced.

NN Bank used a quiet market this week to launch the first deal from its new soft bullet covered bond programme. The inaugural deal carried an ‘attractive’ spread and was more than three times subscribed at final terms.

Mercialys, the BBB rated French shopping centre owner, launched a sub-benchmark bond with an eye-catching yield on Tuesday, wider than a simultaneous deal by Fiat Chrysler, which is crossover-rated. Syndicate bankers said trying to be precise about pricing and sentiment this week was more difficult than it had been for months.

The Republic of Poland on Tuesday launched a three year euro bond, while Ukraine mandated banks for a 12 year dollar benchmark. Though bankers say the window is finally open for emerging market corporate issuance, there remains robust appetite for govvie debt.

DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, the German air traffic controller, launched a Schuldschein deal on Monday, on the hunt for at least €250m.

Europe’s high grade bond market provided some mixed indications of sentiment on Monday with the deals for Takeda and SEE seeing notable differences in demand, leaving syndicate bankers trying to work out what this means for what is expected to be a busy week of issuance.

DirectBooks, which plans to bring a new issuance platform for bond markets, has not ruled out the possibility of a partnership with other providers.

Korean Housing Finance Corporation (KHFC) has launched its second social covered bond of the year in euros, setting the spread for its deal in the middle of its guidance range.