Finland

Caisse Francaise De Financement Local (Caffil) found good demand for a €1.5bn 10 year with a final spread close to what it could have achieved before the covered bond purchase programme begun. The deal followed a €1bn five year from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).

Caisse Francaise De Financement Local (Caffil) has mandated leads for a 10 year euro benchmark Obligation foncière, and after completing a roadshow last week, The Mortgage Society of Finland is set to open order books for sub-benchmark deal.

Finnish telecoms company DNA braved choppy conditions this week with a new €250m seven year bond to fund its tender offer for bonds due in 2018 and 2021 following a roadshow.

The sole investment grade corporate new issue on Tuesday was a sub-benchmark seven year deal as weak secondary markets finally pulled the handbrake on new issuance. Some recent deals had struggled to tighten from initial price thoughts and issuers paused to take stock.

Solidium, the Finnish national wealth fund, attracted a large book of over 120 investors when it sold €467m of shares in Sampo, the Helsinki-based financial services group, in a block trade on Tuesday night.

Guarantor: Republic of Finland

The European Investment Bank printed a €5bn 10 year benchmark on Wednesday — the second largest deal of the year from a non-sovereign SSA issuer — dispelling any lingering concerns over the market’s reaction to the Italian election result.

Technopolis, the Finnish office space company, has signed a €518m multi-tranche loan, swapping most of its bilateral bank debt lines for syndicated funding.

Rating: Aa1/AA+

Public sector borrowers hit new mid-swap spread tights for the year in dollars this week, but despite the enviable pricing on offer, bankers said that the currency was not offering the kind of super strong conditions that had been on offer last year. That might play in the mind of issuers lining up deals for next week — which is expected to be busy — with bankers saying borrowers might need to offer a little more concession than they have been used to.

The total issuance of investment grade corporate bonds in February was an underwhelming €14.8bn but the property sector has outshone all others in 2018 and this week was no different as investors had further diversification to consider.

Finnish residential property developer Kojamo and French care home operator Orpea added to the geographical diversity of the property company corporate bonds sold this week with a €500m seven year deal, while frequent issuer RCI Banque sold a dual tranche offering