France

Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) picked a tricky week for its first euro syndication in many years but, thanks to the deal’s green aspect, the trade went off without a hitch.

In spite of the spread between OATs and Bunds reaching a four year high, two French public sector issuers chose to come to market this week, hoping the market would be stable. It’s no longer enough for issuers to sit on their hands waiting for calm — it’s about braving possible volatility and funding when you can.

French issuers appear unfazed by political turbulence afflicting their sovereign's curve, with two borrowers in the market this week. Meanwhile, the European Financial Stability Facility sold its largest deal tranche in over 2.5 years.

Rating: A/A

BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole with Kepler Cheuvreux have tonight launched the first block trade of stock in Paris residential property builder Kaufman & Broad since its re-IPO last April.

Electricité de France plans to bring its long-awaited rights issue to market in March, against the backdrop of a crucial presidential election campaign in France.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress French agencies have made with their funding plans so far in 2017.

French covered bond issuer BPCE attracted almost €1.4bn of demand for its seven year as the need to price over OATs conferred a generous new issue premium. But with French covered bonds trading much tighter than OATs in the 10 year tenor there is a growing sense that a new 10 year issue could soon price much tighter than France.

The prospect of a far-right leader becoming president of France rocked government bond markets this week. It led to a rare pulled French agency deal and will cause the country’s banks problems with their own huge funding needs. But as other issuers in eurozone countries facing elections showed, the picture of the risks ahead is complicated. Craig McGlashan reports.

Equity-linked bond issuance, lagging behind demand in Europe, showed a burst of vigour on Thursday with the launch of three deals, including substantial convertibles for Vinci and Severstal that were both eagerly received.

Fears of a far-right win in the French presidential election have left the country’s banks in a tricky position. They need to raise large amounts of non-preferred senior bonds this year but, with spreads so volatile, any attempt to do so is likely to be fraught with risk and expensive.

The pipeline of environmental and social governance bonds is filling up with European public sector borrowers. Two are set to put on green bond roadshows in the weeks to come while a third is planning its social bond debut this year.