DNB Bank

DNB Boligkreditt showed this week that borrowers have a very good incentive to consider issuing green covered bonds, especially now that the European Central Bank has signalled its intention to reduce net buying of assets under the Covered Bond Purchase Programme (CBPP3) to zero by December.

Sweden’s Lundin Petroleum has slashed 90bp off the margin of its $5bn reserves-based lending facility, as borrowers continue to heap pressure on lenders over pricing.

DNB Boligkreditt priced its inaugural green covered bond this week, paying a smaller new issue premium than core European names, but still attracting a large and granular order book in a short time frame.

Five Nordic banks have banded together for a Nordic Know Your Customer (KYC) venture that would cater to large and mid-sized Nordic corporates — an example of the kind of shared infrastructure project that banks need to bring their costs down.

The world’s largest salmon producer, Marine Harvest, sold the Nordic fish farming industry’s first bond for five years last week and as the industry scales up sources say a wave of issuance from the sector could be on the way.

DNB is preparing to issue its first green covered bond, the proceeds of which will be used to fund the most energy efficient residential mortgages in Norway. The prospective deal has been structured in line with the Green Bond Principles and will be endorsed by Sustainalytics.

DNB Bank ASA issued €600m of tier two debt on Tuesday, beating Svenska Handelsbanken’s record set last month as the tightest 10 year non-call five tier two issued since the financial crisis.

A debut trade from Stark Group, the Nordic building materials supplier, gave high yield investors their first chance to invest in single-B rated bonds in about a month. The deal announcement arrived while market participants were still assessing the victory of Eurosceptic parties in the weekend's general election in Italy.

In stark contrast with a mute high yield bond market, leveraged loan investors were expecting more than €5bn of new deals on Monday, including a $725m-equivalent deal from Swedish trade technology provider Itiviti, which includes a triple-C rated second lien.

Swedish healthcare company Capio has given its revolving credit facility a shot in the arm by amending and extending it, increasing it by 45% to €343m-equivalent and extending its maturity by 2.5 years.

DNB Boligkreditt and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce this week issued the first five year covered bonds of the year and found strong demand, even though there was a sensitivity around the final spread.

Bankers expect further fast growth in Nordic green bond issuance in 2018, including a good chance of sovereign deals, with Sweden a leading candidate.