Europe

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, June 8. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

Raiffeisen Bank International launched a tier two bond in euros on Tuesday with investors still showing strong appetite for risk. But a smaller order book for the trade suggested that market conditions might be softening compared with recent trading sessions.

The Republic of Albania returned to the euro bond markets on Tuesday after more than a year and a half away, seeking a seven year deal.

Achmea Bank issued the first conditional pass-through (CPT) covered bond since October 2019 on Tuesday with the juicy spread ensuring the most oversubscribed order book ever for this structure, enabling the deal to be priced flat to fair value.

KBC Group made use on Tuesday of strong investor appetite for green bonds, launching a callable senior deal with a negative new issue concession.

The European Systemic Risk Board is recommending that financial institutions do not equity dividends at all this year, so that they maintain high levels of capital. It acknowledged the risk that some firms could otherwise be stigmatised if they decided to restrict distributions amid Covid-19.

Basic-Fit, Europe’s largest operator of fitness clubs, raised €133.3m through a sale of new shares on Monday night. The capital raised gives the company a platform to take advantage of growth opportunities that may arise from the pandemic.

The coronavirus crisis may have hit overall covered bond supply prospects, but it has provided a silver lining for some banks — such as Credit Suisse, ING and Commerzbank which have all fared well in the covered bond league tables this year.

French aerospace and defence company Safran has entered the US private placement market, according to market sources, looking for at least €400m.

Italy’s ministry of economy and finance has announced a new government bond which will be reserved exclusively for retail investors, with the proceeds to fund the measures launched by the government to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and support the recovery of the country.

UniCredit is only the second Italian bank to have accessed public primary bond markets during the coronavirus pandemic, but other lenders from the periphery of the eurozone are now lining up to bring deals of their own.

Convertible bond issuance in Europe is expected to pick up over the coming months as corporates in the region seek to exit from government lending schemes and refinance themselves via the capital markets.