Europe

Corporate bond issuers came zooming into the market on Wednesday to take advantage of the short window this week, but new issue premiums crept up in places as investors asked for a little more juice to help wash down the abundance of supply over the past month.

Public sector borrowers are aiming for the short end of the dollar curve, as swap spreads in the area hover around the spot in which they started 2017, having dropped sharply from the year’s highs hit in March.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank’s first ever affordable housing bond raised €2bn across two tranches on Wednesday. One banker on the deal said he was “certain other borrowers will issue more like this”.

Shares in Boozt, the Scandinavian online fashion retailer, closed 25% higher on Wednesday after they began trading on Nasdaq Stockholm after its heavily oversubscribed Skr1.6bn (€166m) IPO. It rose another 3% on Thursday.

The UK Debt Management Office is keeping its options open on a planned syndication for September, a deal some investors feel the sovereign should use to push its conventional curve out to 2072. Meanwhile, a French agency is bringing its first syndication in sterling for over two years.

The long-awaited re-privatisation of Allied Irish Banks has begun at last, after the Irish government decided to press ahead with the IPO, which could raise about €3bn, in a sign of confidence in Ireland's economic recovery and the European IPO market.

Intesa Sanpaolo was unable to tighten pricing for its barely subscribed €1bn 10 year Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite on Wednesday as mounting political risk in Italy caused a distinct change in sentiment.

Issuance in the European high yield bond market staged a comeback in the first quarter, but weaknesses still lurk behind the figures, which were published by an industry association on Wednesday.

Banca IFIS, a specialist bank in Italy, has bought a €190m nominal portfolio of performing and non-performing loans from Barclays.

Banco de Crédito Social Cooperativo was warmly welcomed on its return to the tier two market on Wednesday, as Spanish banks capitalise on strong conditions by plugging the market with subordinated debt.

With many borrowers far ahead of schedule in their funding programmes and ebullient mood of the past month receding, attention is turning to more strategic trades as well as socially responsible issuance.

The corporate bond market is notably slower this week, after the hectic month was bookended by a public holiday in the UK. But the range of borrowers marketing bonds means the calm is unlikely to last however.