Euro

France’s pioneering work on sovereign green bonds took another step forward on Monday, as it named the members of its green OAT evaluation council on the same day that the group held its first meeting.

After a slow first two days of the week, some participants were calling the end of a successful 2017 for corporate bond issuance. However five new deals were priced in the next two days as French and German issuers in particular benefited from investor desire to keep buying.

Volkswagen Bank GmbH sold sold its first bond for more than three years this week. The banking services subsidiary of German car manufacturer Volkswagen printed a €2bn triple-tranche deal on Wednesday.

Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten on Tuesday printed “another great example” of what bankers said were the “tangible price benefits” of selling SRI bonds. The trade came in the same week that France tapped its famous green OAT — or GrOAT — via auction.

The likely return of a rare sovereign issuer next week will break the silence in an otherwise quiet market for SSAs in euros, after there were just a smattering of German Lander trades this week. Meanwhile, investors believe that the rising interest rate cycle in the US could have a knock-on benefit for euro borrowers.

Austrian oil and gas company OMV discovered on Thursday that investors are far from finished with the investment grade corporate bond market in 2017. The strength of demand for its new nine year deal resulted in the company printing its largest ever bond.

The Republic of Iceland looks set to bring its first syndication in over three years before the year end, after mandating banks on Wednesday to run a euro trade.

On Wednesday, the euro corporate bond market reminded any doubters that it was still very much open for business with five tranches totalling €3bn being priced by three well known issuers.

Twelve deals last week led many in the corporate bond market to believe this week would be the final busy week of the year. However, the roadshow schedule is now bare and investors believe they are starting to see the end of 2017.

Hong Kong-based infrastructure company CK Infrastructure sold its first euro corporate bond issue on Tuesday, despite having owned a variety of utilities and infrastructure companies across Europe for more than seven years. The response was solid if not overwhelming.

China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGNPC) raised around $1.5bn from a dual currency, triple-tranche transaction on Monday, which included a green bond. The issuer’s ambition to raise funds at the long end of the curve meant it offered a juicy pick-up on the five-to-10 year dollar curve compared to other A-rated state-owned names.

Friday’s sharp turnaround in US sentiment left some European corporate bond players unsure as to how their market might open on Monday. But the tone turned out to be positive and US chemicals company Celanese Corp was ready to take advantage.