Europe
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RCI Banque followed Volkswagen Financial Services’ triple tranche bond issue on Monday with its own two-part issue on Wednesday. Both car finance banks, as very regular issuers, are unlikely to command the absolute tightest pricing relative to their secondary curves, but demand has also cooled somewhat this week, compared with the avid tone of recent weeks. Nevertheless, pricing tightened a long way. -
Europe’s most prolific corporate bond issuer re-entered the market on Monday for its second multi-tranche deal of the year, and issued €2.75bn, slightly more than at its €2.5bn outing in January. The book for Volkswagen Financial Services’ three tranche issue was somewhat smaller this time, however.
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Total, the French oil company, achieved a flat new issue concession on its €1.5bn hybrid bond on Wednesday, according to bankers away from the deal, as investors swarmed into the book in search of yield.
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Barclays’ chief executive Jes Staley has seized direct control of corporate and investment banking (CIB) again, instigating sweeping changes as he fights to boost returns at the unit and block a shareholder activist’s attack. David Rothnie reports.
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It was all going so well, until it wasn’t. After a strong run for Turkish borrowers in the capital markets, news of tumbling central bank reserves sparked an investor exodus and hasty action aimed at supposed short sellers in the foreign exchange market this week. While some emerging markets old hands expect things to blow over after the country’s local elections on Sunday, any surprises there could become catalysts for a deeper crisis.
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Vodafone launched and priced on Thursday a $2bn hybrid capital issue, to gain some more equity credit in the eyes of the rating agencies. The deal follows Moody’s decision on Monday to give no equity credit to Vodafone’s £3.4bn mandatorily convertible bond, issued on March 5.
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Participants in the financial institutions bond market were bewildered to see Coventry Building Society paying up to issue a new additional tier one and tender for an old one this week. But the transaction gave other issuers a window into how European rules on bank capital may be applied in practice — something that could pave the way for new and more liberal approaches to calling and refinancing AT1s, writes Tyler Davies.
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Rating: Baa3/BBB-/BBB-
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Financial institutions bond bankers were pleased to see investors welcome new capital trades from Caixa Económica Montepio Geral and Van Lanschot this week, as smaller and rarer names hit screens after a boom in supply this month.
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A trio sovereigns went to the MTN market over the past week, including Italy, which issued a yen bond for the first time since 2009. The deal, led by Nomura, was also its first issue in a foreign currency since 2010.
