CEE Bonds

Kompania Weglowa became the third Polish high yield name to pull a debut eurobond issue in less than four months on Wednesday when it announced plans to postpone a planned five year dollar benchmark.

Swiss franc investors took advantage of a rare opportunity to buy Norwegian senior unsecured financial paper this week when Sparebanken Nord-Norge made its debut in the currency.

Alfa Bank looked to have opted for price over size for its new style tier two subordinated deal as the yield was set at the tight end of guidance of 9.5%-9.75% on Thursday morning.

Kompania Weglowa became the fourth Polish high yield name to pull a debut eurobond issue in less than four months on Wednesday when it announced plans to postpone a planned five year dollar benchmark.

Alfa Bank Russia opened books on a long awaited subordinated dollar deal on Wednesday, pushing on with its first new style tier two despite a sharp fall in the rouble’s value and an intensifying conflict in Ukraine. The deal comes less than a week after Gazprom priced the first international Russian benchmark since July. But Alfa has been planning its sale for months, and was not pulled to market by a pathfinding corporate bond, said bankers on the deal.

Eurobond restructuring has followed bleak third quarter results from Ukrainian companies, as military conflict in the country intensifies. First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB) is asking investors for permission to restructure Eurobonds maturing in December. The bank joins metals and mining holder Metinvest, which is trying to restructure a $500m deal that matures in 2015.

Hopes for a big end to the year in dollar sukuk issuance have been triple-boosted this week, with Pakistan reviving its plans to come to market while Flydubai and Mumtalakat are set to begin roadshows on Thursday. A grand finale has been made possible – but it will need fast work.

Bankers working on a loan for Promsvyazbank believe the hotly anticipated deal is imminent – and that it will do more to reopen the international market to Russian borrowers than Gazprom did with its bond last week.

mBank, Commerzbank's Polish unit previously known as BreBank, is roadshowing a euro-denominated bond via Barclays, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse and JP Morgan.

Books for Poland coal firm, Kompany Weglowa’s bond closed on Friday but with no update as yet on pricing, bankers away from the deal have become curious as to whether the deal has been postponed. But the bond is still live, said a syndicate official on the note.

Gazprom’s $700m one year deal this week was brought to market with the best of intentions. The company wanted to re-open the international dollar bond market for other Russian issuers and felt that it was its duty to do so, being the only big state-owned borrower not subject to capital market sanctions.

Gazprom’s dollar deal on Wednesday may have grabbed the attention of emerging markets bankers eager to see Russian borrowers back in bonds, especially as it was twice subscribed. But any hopes of a flurry of Russian comeback issuance were shot down by bankers away from the deal in London who said a number of factors dented the trade's credentials as a pathfinder for the energy giant's compatriot borrowers.