Commerzbank

Poor conditions in the third quarter slowed the primary markets, and held Commerzbank’s investment bank profit down to just €32m, according to the bank’s head of corporates and markets, Michael Reuther.

Senior loans bankers report they are working through the night to cope with the surge in Middle East loans, as even the Sultanate of Oman piled into the market to grab funding while it can. After all, the conditions will not last, writes Elly Whittaker.

Six borrowers raised nearly €5bn in the covered bond market this week, once again surpassing supply expectations. The star attraction, notable for both its size and tenor, was a €1.5bn three year from the Norwegian issuer, Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt.

Tata Chemicals Europe’s £140m ($216m) dual-tranche facility has been launched into limited syndication, marking the borrower’s return to the syndicated loan market after a four year break.

Thursday may be bonfire night in the UK but all the fireworks in the loan market were taking place in the Middle East this week, as Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) launched a $800m loan alongside three other banks and with a loan for Oman also in the pipeline.

Edag, a German company that specialises in providing engineering services to the car industry, started investor education on Wednesday for a Frankfurt IPO.

Avicem HK, a subsidiary of Shenzhen-listed Avic Electromechanical Systems Co, has wound up a €350m ($384.6m) loan with a group of four banks.

A poor third quarter for Commerzbank’s investment banking division and the announced retirement of its chief executive has done little to spoil the bank’s overall sense of momentum, as it posted better profits than had been widely expected and revealed it would pay its first dividend in eight years.

Three issuers launched covered bond benchmarks in euros this week, down from nine in the previous week, as borrowers anticipated an improvement in market conditions and lower new issue concessions.

The belly of the curve was the place to be this week for public sector borrowers in euros — but any other benchmarks before the end of the year are likely to be further out the maturity curve.

Nigerian loans have given an underwhelming performance this year, but deals from Ecobank, FCMB, Skye Bank and Stanbic IBTC will test the mettle of the market.

L-Bank