Europe

Order books may be down but those corporate issuers not in earnings blackout enjoyed pleasing results this week, with single digit new issue premiums still achievable in the bond market.

Portugal’s bond yields fell to levels last seen in early September, as investor worries eased over a vital ratings review of the sovereign by DBRS this Friday.

The rate of the European Central Bank's covered bond purchases slowed again in the latest reporting period, reflecting a scarcity of secondary market offers and a lack of new supply rather than a deliberate attempt to taper.

Hypo Oberösterreich’s first transaction issued from its newly set up covered bond programme was exceptionally well received, despite its small size and lower than average rating.

The long end will stay very much in vogue for euro issuers next week — which SSA bankers are predicting could be the last big window of issuance for the year.

Concerns that a ‘hard Brexit’ will lay waste to the pound and ratchet up UK inflation are furnishing a wave of innovation in structured products, as market participants look for more sophisticated ways to play a breakdown in previously dominant correlations between different asset classes, writes Dan Alderson.

UK government bonds this week joined the country’s currency in taking a hammering, but public sector bankers are confident that a scheduled Gilt syndication next week will go well — and there could also be arbitrage opportunities in sterling.

The debut covered bond of BNP Paribas Fortis and the first in four years from SNS Bank were priced on Monday with virtually no new issue concessions and healthy levels of subscription.

A pair of Nordic public sector borrowers showed the strength of green bond market, printing a pair of well received trades, both of which were priced inside the issuers’ conventional bond curves.

Snam’s zero coupon was the standout trade in the euro corporate bond market this week and while the borrower showed investors’ continued appetite for new issues, it also demonstrated conducive conditions for liability management.

Poland cemented its position as one of CEE’s most nimble and savvy issuers on Tuesday by printing a 30 year euro deal — only the second ever from a non-Eurozone sovereign — in an opportunistic trade.

Valmet — Segro — Ecom — Aluminium Bahrain — Morpho