Currencies

Grand City Properties, the German residential property firm, printed eight and a half year Swiss franc bonds on Wednesday, and also sold a new nine year in euros on Monday alongside a tender for some outstanding bonds and convertibles.

The public sector bond market in euros is in rude health thanks to the return of stability at higher yields. Two borrowers took advantage of the conditions to pull off smooth executions with skinny new issue premiums on Thursday.

Italy could retrieve half of the basis points it has lost to Spain in the run-up its general election next weekend — if the vote returns the most market friendly result, according to a portfolio manager at a leading investment house.

Indian Railway Finance Corp has turned heads in the loan market with its request for up to $250m of 10 year money. While some market participants balked at the idea of 10 year commercial loans, those at the firm’s main target audience — Japanese banks — think the deal is worth a look. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Grand City Properties, the German residential property firm, printed eight and a half year bonds on Wednesday, in the second foreign real estate deal in Swissies since 2013.

Corporate bond syndicate managers have been surprised and disappointed that the pace of issuance evident at the start of the week has not continued, but the existence of a material pipeline for the first time this year is giving them some cause for optimism.

The euro SSA market is returning to a more aggressive pace of issuance after a slackening in tempo last week. Two borrowers raised a combined €3bn on Wednesday and another pair are set to print on Thursday.

Gazprom is looking to enter the Swiss franc market for the fifth time, mandating four banks to arrange meetings for a benchmark bond. After Moody’s upgraded the Russian company to investment grade, the arrangers are particularly confident of Swiss interest.

Spain’s first trip to the long end of the curve in almost two years met with an overwhelming response, as the sovereign received one of the largest books ever for a 30 year bond.

French issuers ALD and Mercialys continued the triple-B theme of the week in the investment grade corporate bond market when the pair announced new deals on Tuesday. These followed three BBB+ rated credits on Monday.

Spain has picked banks for its second deal of the year, looking towards the long end of the curve for the first time since May 2016.

For the first day this year since January 10, investors had a choice of three benchmark new issues in the investment grade corporate bond market. All three issuers were BBB+ rated, but the variety of tenors and spreads meant none of the deals were directly competing. However, new issue premiums have increased after the recent bout of volatility.