BNP Paribas

A flattening and rising US Treasury yield curve may be sparking concerns of a slowdown for the US economy but it is having the opposite effect on the short end of the dollar market for public sector borrowers, writes Craig McGlashan.

Three CEE new issues are in the works: Bulgarian Energo Pro is hoping to print its bond as soon as Friday, Hungarian fertiliser company Nitrogénművek is looking to issue €200m with a new euro seven year non-call three bond, and Wizz Air has received its first ever credit rating, a likely precursor to a bond issue.

The London and Johannesburg listing of Vivo was covered today, two days after launch, good news for African equities after South African bottle producer Consol had to pull its IPO.

Two issuers with double-B ratings, Darling Ingredients and Avast, achieved substantial financial cost savings with repricings this week, as pricing for top rated paper still looked attractive despite a recent uptick in spreads.

Springer Nature, the German academic publishing group, has opened the books on its €1.3bn Frankfurt IPO with a price range that gives a “healthy discount” to peers.

BBVA has complete the first global corporate loan transaction using blockchain technology, just as a blockchain-based tool for syndicated lending backed by global banks goes live.

Energo Pro, a hydro power plant operator and electricity distributor in Bulgaria, Georgia and Turkey, finished its roadshow in Wednesday and is planning to bring a euro-denominated bond as early as Friday.

Chinese technology giant Huawei postponed its debut euro bond late on Wednesday after final terms had been released, following news of a US investigation into whether the company had violated sanctions against Iran. While Huawei had enough support to go ahead with its transaction, it put the deal on the back burner to maintain its standing with investors, said bankers. Morgan Davis reports.

The benchmark US Treasury 10 year yield moved through the 3% level this week, creating what some say was unnecessary panic in the market. That was clearly reflected in the dollar bond issuance in Asia, with some borrowers ploughing ahead with well-received 10 year transactions and others ditching the tenor altogether. Addison Gong reports.

Karen Pang, an equity-linked banker based in Hong Kong, has left BNP Paribas for a new role in Deutsche Bank, according to two sources with knowledge of the move.

Kommunalbanken priced a three year dollar benchmark flat to its secondary market curve on Wednesday, picking up $1bn at a punchy spread.

Chinese technology equipment company Hauwai dropped a planned dollar tranche on its latest visit to the corporate bond marker and chose to issue its first bond in euros. This did, however, mean the company opted for a five year maturity, rather than the 10 year tenor it had marketed for the dollar bond.