Currencies
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There was a time, not so very long ago, when a ‘yes’ vote in a secession referendum in the most prosperous region of the eurozone’s fastest growing economy might have sparked some concerns. Those days appear to be behind us. -
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In a busy week for utility company bonds Iren, the Italian electricity and gas distributor, on Tuesday announced a new benchmark green bond alongside a tender offer for some of its outstanding bonds.
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Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is set to come to market for a potential triple tranche kangaroo bond on Friday, following a deal from Emirates NBD that, according to a banker at one of ADCB’s leads, showed the market was still accessible to Middle Eastern borrowers.
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Unrated jewellery company Folli Follie debuted in the Swiss franc bond market on Wednesday, having failed in a previous attempt — a sign that retail buyers are becoming more receptive, market participants said.
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Innogy, the German utility split off from RWE in April 2016, on Wednesday announced it would be holding investor calls about a new benchmark 10 year debut green bond issue. Later in the day, Standard & Poor’s upgraded the issuer to BBB.
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On Wednesday, A2A became the second Italian utility this week to sell a 10 year new issue. The company achieved the current benchmark low single digit new issue premium for its €300m deal.
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Tuesday’s speech from Catalan president Carles Puigdemont went some way towards restoring a sense of calm in Europe, as he stopped short of making a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain, instead offering to negotiate with the national government.
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Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) this week raised Sf450m ($462.1m) from the Swiss franc bond market in the largest single tranche Swissie bond by an Australian financial since 2009. The borrower took advantage of the downgrade of a clutch of regular Swiss franc issuers to sell its trade.
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Both the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and Dexia Crédit Local were able to take advantage of a strong market and cut 3bp from the spreads paid on their euro benchmarks on Tuesday.
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Italian gas utility Snam repeated the new issue-and-tender strategy it used in 2016 as it printed its third ever 10 year bond on Tuesday. The company was not able to replicate the zero new issue premium it achieved 12 months ago, but did still price at a very tight spread.
