Coronavirus

Whitbread, the UK hotel and restaurant company behind Premier Inn, has amended a clause in its debt documentation which could have left it liable for technical default. One source said several companies may have to go through a similar amendment process.

The Inter-American Development Bank has added slightly to its 2020 funding programme following the announcement of a substantial lending package in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Rating: Aaa/AAA

Latin American corporates from across the rating spectrum are taking a range of measures to protect their liquidity in the face of the Covid-19 slowdown, but analysts suggest several defaults are inevitable as the region is hit on several fronts.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Maldives to B from B+ and revised its outlook to negative from stable, as the Covid-19 pandemic hits the island nation’s tourism industry.

A leading covered bond investor has reacted positively to a series of measures announced by Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions’ (OSFI) which have effectively provided stable access to emergency funding, including a temporary increase in the amount of covered bonds the country's banks can issue. The move comes after a heavy spell of supply that had sparked concerns that Canadian banks were struggling for cash.

Public bond investors in Europe received on Monday their first new issue from the car industry since the coronavirus crisis went global. The paper was not from an industrial company but Volkswagen Financial Services, its leasing division, which does not rely on VW producing new cars to repay its debt, but rather on customers who are legally obliged to keep paying their leases. The price was wide, but VWFS showed it had market access.

The dollar bond market is gradually opening up, with two high quality public sector borrowers hitting screens on Monday for short dated deals. But with volatility still gripping the cross-currency basis swap market, European borrowers are still sticking to their home currency.

Moody’s downgraded South Africa on Friday, removing the battered sovereign’s final investment grade rating. Sentiment among investors and bankers was split, with some confident that borrowers will be able to lean on their relationship lenders if needed, and others worried about the economic hit which is heading the country’s way.

Jefferies said on Sunday that its chief financial officer, Peregrine ‘Peg’ Broadbent, had died of coronavirus complications. Broadbent had been CFO of the group since 2007, and helped it more than double in size.

The Nordic Investment Bank on Monday became the latest public sector borrower to use the capital markets to provide emergency financing in response to the coronavirus crisis. But rather than selling a conventional or socially responsible bond, the supranational has developed a new framework specially designed to tackle the pandemic.

CPPIB Capital hit the euro market on Monday, becoming the first SSA borrower not eligible for QE to access the market since the coronavirus outbreak shuttered the market. A fellow Canadian is set to follow suit.