Europe

Financial institutions did not take long to return to printing new bond deals at tight spreads this week, as investors quickly got over fears about the impact of the coronavirus epidemic.

Lloyds Bank and National Australia Bank issued two very well received Sonia linked sterling covered bonds this week, taking advantage of demand spotted in a deal issued by Royal Bank of Canada last week.

The first bond from the UK’s five year old Municipal Bonds Agency will be launched in the next week or two and, thanks to some tweaking of the agency's operating practices, more are set to follow, writes Lewis McLellan.

Caisse de Refinancement de l’Habitat (CRH) managed to attract demand of more than €6bn for a two part eight and 15 year transactions issue on Tuesday, while Société Générale subsequently issued a €1bn 10 year green covered bond flat to its curve with demand of €3bn.

Korean Housing Finance Corporation (KHFC) issued its first €1bn-sized covered bond and first negative yielding Asian covered bond on Wednesday. The strong reception was in keeping with two German Pfandbriefe also issued this week by Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank (Dapo) and Sparkasse Pforzheim Calw.

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Rating: B2/—/B+

Few MTN issuers have so far issued in the Libor-replacing euro short term rate (€STR) format, with deals limited so far to supranationals, agencies and, this week, a sub-sovereign. Some bankers blame the 2017 EU Prospectus Directive for tightening up the rules on adding new indices to programmes, leaving non-exempt issuers on the sidelines.

Jes Staley’s strategy has been vindicated, with Barclays’s corporate finance bankers having a banner year. But it has to invest in its European franchise to cement its credentials as the region’s leading investment bank, says David Rothnie.

Greece is hoping to become a frequent presence in the capital markets with a syndicated bond issuance every three months, according to the head of the sovereign's Public Debt Management Agency.

UK soft drinks company Britvic has entered the US private placement (USPP) market via Rabobank and Santander, on the hunt for sterling debt. As the issuer is a regular and well-loved borrower among institutional investors, the transaction has been described by one banker as “as easy as they come.”

DBV Technologies, the French biopharmaceuticals company that specialises in treating allergies, has successfully completed a $153m growth capital raise, despite market volatility earlier in the week owing to fears over the spread of corona virus in Asia.