DNB Bank

SEB issued a seven year covered bond last week 9bp tighter than where DNB Boligkreditt was able to print at the start of this year, showing just how far spreads have rallied. Even though the market is still well supported, investors could soon become reluctant to chase the market even tighter.

Shares in Norwegian Air Shuttle, the Norwegian budget airline, fell 25% on Tuesday after the company announced an Nkr3bn (€308m) rights offer to avoid breaking its financial covenants following widening losses and an abandoned takeover attempt by IAG.

Investors flocked to Nordic and Canadian covered bonds issued this week by DNB Boligkreditt, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) and National Bank of Canada, perhaps reflecting a view that their spreads are well positioned to withstand the European Central Bank’s withdrawal from covered bond market.

DNB Boligkreditt attracted a comfortably oversubscribed order book for its €1.5bn seven year covered bond on Monday, illustrating the market’s sweet-spots for tenor, name and jurisdiction.

Danske Bank has hired DNB Markets’ JoJo Thirasilpa as a managing director in leveraged finance.

Ice Group, a Norwegian provider of wireless telecommunications, has begun pre-marketing for an IPO on the main board of the Oslo Stock Exchange.

The euro high yield market was giving signs that investor discrimination is back this week, as borrowers IDG and Victoria respectively marketed and postponed new issue bond deals.

Luminor Bank, an Estonian financial institution, was looking to place a small senior unsecured deal in the euro market on Wednesday, in spite of volatile market conditions. The transaction will be the issuer’s first step towards reducing its reliance on bank facilities as a means of funding.

Though neither DNB Bank nor Länsförsäkringar Bank (LF Bank) were flooded with orders for new five year senior bonds on Tuesday, the Nordic pair were able to place their deals in the market comfortably.

The Cover and GlobalCapital held the annual Covered Bond Awards Dinner on Thursday night at BMW Welt in Munich, celebrating the best performers in the market.

Sweden’s SSAB has ramped up the size of its euro denominated revolving credit facility to €600m, as the high strength steelmaker becomes the latest beneficiary of the liquidity flooding the loan markets.

Cloetta, the Swedish confectionery company, has amended and extended its euro and krona loans in an entirely Nordic banking affair, and also launched a commercial paper programme.