Europe

Three covered bond issuers took advantage of a rise in yields, following what seemed a breakthrough in Brexit negotiations, to issue transactions that would not have been well received two weeks ago. Banca Popolare dell’Alto Adige’s debut and Sparkasse Hannover’s sub-benchmark deals delivered positive returns, while demand for a slightly negative-yielding benchmark from Sparebanken Sør Boligkreditt was boosted by its green credentials.

La Mondiale gave investors a rare chance to put money in restricted tier one (RT1) ranks this week. The bond was oversubscribed by more than 10 times but the insurance company paid a hefty premium to do the deal, according to one source away from it. However, one of the leads disagreed and said the bond was priced “probably inside fair value”.

Russia will issue renminbi government bonds by early 2020, said Russia deputy finance minister Alexey Moiseev on Thursday at the Moscow Exchange Forum in London. The move is a bid to widen access for Russian corporates eyeing renminbi debt, while diversifying funding sources away from the dollar.

Investors are keeping a watchful eye over the escalating tit-for-tat threats between the United States and Turkey. Asset prices have so far remain unmoved, but analysts have warned that any move to impose tougher sanctions could be catastrophic.

WH Smith, the UK retailer, raised £155m of equity capital in a block trade on Thursday morning in order to acquire US firm Marshall Retail Group.

VodafoneZiggo, the Dutch telecoms joint venture evenly split between Liberty Global and Vodafone, is raising €3.1bn in fresh capital. It joins industry peers such as Salt, Wind Hellas and Altice France who have rushed to the market this autumn to take advantage of favourable conditions.

Mann+Hummel, a veteran borrower in the Schuldschein market, struggled to place a Schuldschein, according to market sources, with participants citing ZF Friedrichshafen’s blockbuster transaction as well as the market’s over-indulgence in the auto sector this year as chief reasons.

Nationwide Building Society announced a consent solicitation on Wednesday with plans to convert two floating rate covered bonds to pay coupons based on Sonia rather than Libor, and is considering doing the same on all of its Libor-based bonds. The UK issuer followed Lloyds, which won plaudits from Moody’s for undertaking a similar exercise on a covered bond earlier this month.

Citigroup launched a senior unsecured bond in the sterling market on Wednesday, just as the UK government appeared to be making some progress over its Brexit deal with the EU.

It has been a busy week so far in CEEMEA bonds this week with three deals sold. Meanwhile, in the loan market, sanctions threaten the pricing on Turkey bank loans.

Covered bonds issued in October have had a distinctly mixed reception — as depicted by the wide dispersion of scores on GC Covered Bond Marker. Bankers say the outlook is complex as investors are more cautious and it’s not fully clear how the European Central Bank’s (ECB) deposit tiering will really play out in conjunction with its asset purchases, its Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO) and negative interest rates.

The IPO of Ferretti, the Italian manufacturer of yachts and super yachts, is finally covered after a long and difficult book building process and investors have praised the willingness of the seller to be flexible on valuation to help the deal across the line.