Europe

A pair of euro borrowers hit screens at the short end of the euro curve on Thursday, but both failed to reach full subscription.

Italy’s political situation may be making investors nervous but the sovereign this week sold the latest line of its BTP Italia product with little fuss — although the domestic skew on the bond makes it a poor barometer of international faith in the credit.

EU member states will try to reach agreement next Friday on a series of draft reforms unveiled in 2016, which aim to enshrine international standards such as the total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements and the leverage ratio into EU law.

Arion Banki, the domestic arm of failed Icelandic bank Kaupthing, plans to become the first bank in Iceland to return to the stockmarket nearly a decade on from the financial crisis, having announced its intention to float on Nasdaq Iceland and Nasdaq Stockholm.

A block in HelloFresh, the German meal kit delivery company, sold quickly after market close on Wednesday night, with investors already enjoying a 9% rise in the stock price.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent the country’s sovereign bond yields flying this week as he vowed to take more responsibility for monetary policy if he wins next month’s elections. His comments prompted another sharp dive in the value of the Turkish lira — felt strongly by the country’s dollar debt issuers — as investors feared that even if the central bank does hike rates to defend the currency, the measure could be soon reversed. Francesca Young and Mike Turner report.

Market sources said rising political uncertainty in the eurozone was to blame for the second deal pulled from the European high yield bond market so far in May, as Greek issuer Pangaea cancelled its high yield roadshow on Thursday.

When the euro corporate market attempted to return to full speed after a pause on Wednesday, investors were given a tough choice between three triple-B rated issuers all selling seven year bonds and another selling a sub-benchmark five year tranche. The result was a bad one for issuers.

UK child goods retailer Mothercare revealed a wide scale restructuring and refinancing plan on Thursday, in which it will take up to £113.5m of funding from debt and new equity.

German media company Bertelsmann pulled a €500m seven year corporate bond issue on Thursday, just hours after launching the deal alongside two other seven year deals.

Landshypotek Bank was able to close the price gap to its larger Swedish peers on Wednesday when it issued its first green covered bond.

The chairman of Deutsche Börse, Joachim Faber, on Wednesday said he would leave his post after a transition period before serving his full three-year term.