France

Euros in the public sector bond market have enjoyed an exceptional run throughout January, providing borrowers from all across the public sector with funding in a tremendous breadth of maturities.

SNCF Mobilités on Thursday took its time to get over the line on a €1bn February 2029 in a euro market that has looked all but bottomless this week.

France’s €7bn green OAT is a cert for the awards ceremonies. But are investors in it really helping the environment?

Deal after deal has hit screens in euros this week as issuers from all across the public sector spectrum printed in maturities from five to 30 years.

Renewed appetite in the long end of the curve allowed Crédit Agricole Home Loan SFH to add a rare benchmark 20 year covered bond to an offering of eight and 15 year notes on Wednesday, as the French lender walked away with a healthy €2.5bn of funding.

BNP Paribas’s global head of ECM is moving to a new job and the bank has hired a bulge bracket banker, aiming to expand its franchise in the business.

Crédit Agricole has mandated leads for a possible eight and 15 year covered bond which is likely to be launched on Wednesday.

While many of the main euro issuers have already scored their big January benchmarks, the pipeline of euro issuance is growing increasingly congested, although the range of maturities on offer should allow borrowers to avoid treading on each other's toes.

France surpassed the expectations of even the most passionate supporters of the green bond market on Tuesday, selling comfortably the largest ever print in the format. Socially responsible investment (SRI) experts believe the deal makes it almost certain that other sovereign issuers will add green bonds to their funding mix.

The Agence France Trésor has announced the maturity date for the first ever French sovereign green bond, which could be priced this week.

Spanish and French covered bonds were well supported on Monday with further buying reported following demand seen last week. With only one Spanish Cédulas seen so far this year, the market should be receptive to more supply.

Shares in French voucher provider Edenred closed 1.6% lower on Friday after Colday, a vehicle for Colony Capital, turned to the blocks market on Thursday evening to sell a residual 5.7% of the company.