Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Three issuers broke the brief new issue hiatus in the CEEMEA market on Thursday, all starting with wide levels to tempt investors into their books.

Globalworth, an AIM-listed real estate investment trust focused on Poland and Romania, released initial price guidance for a euro benchmark seven year bond at 3.375% area, talk that a syndicate official away from the note represented around a 40bp pick up over fair value. The talk was later in the morning updated to 3.125%-3.25% with leads saying the deal will price in range.

Ukrainian poultry producer MHP was offering a chunky concession to its own curve on Thursday as it looks to push out its debt maturity profile with a new issue to finance a buy-back of its 2020s.

Russia’s new bond may well be an act of defiance from the government, but it was also a savvy move in the capital markets as pressure on the country increases. Russia must have been keen to show that it did not need to alter course for funding in the face of allegations that it has poisoned ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK. But financially it was also a sensible move that helps to fund the country in the face of an escalation of the situation.

Ukrainian steel and mining company Metinvest is planning to buy back the complex secured bonds it issued as part of its $2.3bn debt restructuring last year, and will finance the move with a new dual tranche dollar offering.

Russian gold miner Nordgold and coal company Siberian Coal Energy Co (suek) signed syndicated loans in the week leading up to Vladimir Putin’s victory in the Russian general elections.

A book of $7.5bn suggests investors had few qualms about investing in Russia’s $4bn Eurobond, despite unusual clauses contained in the documentation, which has been designed to explicitly help wealthy Russians circumvent future sanctions.

Many equity investors are still keen on Russian equities, despite the growing political tension between the country and the UK.

International condemnation of Russia, which stands accused of poisoning Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK, has not stopped the country from forging ahead with plans to raise money in the Eurobond market. Russia had taken orders of $4.5bn and revised guidance for a new 11 year bond and a tap of its 2047s by Friday lunchtime.

Credit Suisse has put two emerging markets DCM bankers at risk.

Two central and eastern European corporates announced euro trades on Friday, adding to a busy pipeline of emerging markets deals.

PKO Bank Hipoteczny may not have attracted the most overall demand in Thursday’s packed issuance window, but its covered bond was notable for having the highest spread and strongest subscription ratio of the five deals in the market.