Euro

Cyprus printed a first 15 year benchmark on Tuesday, pushing out its curve and receiving orders of over €8bn. Despite the strong demand, the borrower elected to keep the size of the deal to €1bn, despite leads announcing on Tuesday morning that the size would be up to €1.5bn.

An SSA borrower smashed another set of records with a long dated bond on Tuesday. France’s hotly anticipated 30 year syndication did not disappoint, raising €7bn with its lowest yield ever at the maturity.

KfW returned to the euro market with a one day tap, joining France and Cyprus in the market and extending the its stellar run of new issues in euros.

The Republic of Cyprus has come to market for a euro Reg S benchmark, looking to follow up on its record breaking effort in late 2018 and extend its curve from 10 to 15 years.

France has picked banks for a long 30 year euro benchmark, returning to the long end of the curve with a syndication for the first time since May 2017, as promised in late 2018.

Italian auto finance bank FCA Bank found the feelgood factor in full effect on Friday as market participants suggested it priced a new three year deal more than 40bp tighter than if it had sold the same deal at the start of the year.

French toll road operator Autoroutes du Sud de la France found plenty of investors willing to buy the issuer’s first corporate bond sale of 2019. The demand allowed the company to tighten the spread it was offering by 22bp through the marketing process and price the deal in line with its existing curve.

Rating: A3/A/A-

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) became the latest issuers to enjoy a strong euro market this week, and there is more supply to come.

Investors backed the return of the Balearic Islands to the bond markets on Tuesday with the Spanish region selling its biggest ever single tranche bond. It was able to attract huge demand despite the threat of a snap general election in Spain — a prospect that looked increasingly likely as the week neared its end.

Two Nordic telecoms companies sold euro corporate bonds this week after both spending nearly two years on the sidelines. Both employed no-grow strategies, and Swedish company Telia sold the longest maturity corporate bond deal of 2019 so far.

Record breaking Italian football club Juventus made its debut in the corporate bond market on Wednesday. It used the Agnelli family’s involvement in the ownership and running of the club for nearly a century to market the bond, but Italian football clubs do not have a great financial track record, writes Nigel Owen.