Europe

UniCredit’s second quarter profits were up almost 30% from last year, with the commercial and investment bank and Italian commercial bank taking most of the credit. The CEE business remains important, but Russia dragged the division sharply down.

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has bowed to its creditors’ request for more time in preparing a revised restructuring offer. The two sides will now meet early next week, but analysts believe the chance of Ukraine imposing a debt moratorium are increasing.

Spain raised just shy of its maximum target at auction on Thursday, as polls this week in Spain suggested support is declining for anti-austerity party Podemos ahead of elections later this year.

The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) will present its new dual-recourse bond structure to an audience of regulators, central bank heads and other stakeholders in October – a meeting which will be a barometer of official sector appetite for backing the product.

Abbey National launched a minimum €250m reopening of a 2019 floating rate note on Thursday, looking to bring the size of an original €500m deal above €1bn after a series of taps last year.

Investors swarmed all over Royal Bank of Scotland’s first offering of additional tier one (AT1) paper on Wednesday, which had some bankers recalling the early days of the product.

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has catered to its creditors’ request for more time in preparing a revised restructuring offer. The two sides will now meet early next week, but analysts believe the chance of Ukraine imposing a debt moratorium are increasing.

Gazprom Marketing & Trading’s (GM&T) $500m credit facility was launched at $350m and increased to $500m after strong demand from banks, including a number of Asian names.

Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, the Florence based banking foundation, sold a chunk of Intesa Sanpaolo shares on Tuesday in a block trade managed by Goldman Sachs.

Russian oil company Lukoil is bringing forward another rare Russian loan by syndicating the $500m tranche of a $1bn loan, which is due to close imminently according to bankers.

CVC Capital Partners’ Cerved Group, an Italian credit information provider, will call €530m of bonds in January 2016, funded by a €660m loan, which will make the firm interest savings.

RBS chose a dual tranche debut in additional tier one (AT1) on Wednesday, and some bankers think the bank’s improving debt story has helped it pay a smaller pick-up than others for a 10 year call.