France

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress French agencies have made in their funding programmes by the middle of April.

BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole enjoyed the best of conditions as they reopened the market for non-preferred senior bonds from eurozone banks this week, but Société Générale ran into market turbulence when it emerged a day later. Bankers said that showed that demand for the instrument remains limited.

Agence France Trésor, the French sovereign debt office, has published a second draft budget bill for 2020, which will see it issue much more debt than previously announced.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Tuesday, April 14. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

Société Générale continued the streak of French bail-in bond issuance on Wednesday but had to pay a higher new issue premium compared to its compatriots.

French president Emmanuel Macron may have extended the country’s Covid-19 lockdown until May 11 but equity bankers took hope from his address to the country this week.

BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole have become the first euro area banks to launch senior bonds for nearly two months. They joined UBS in the euro market on Tuesday, taking advantage of a recent rally in credit spreads across the sector.

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) was the latest public sector agency to head to the euro market this week as it raised €1.5bn on Wednesday with a 10 year benchmark. While the deal was fully subscribed, the order book was not huge and the pricing did not tighten from guidance, indicating that the market may be slowing.

Agence Française de Développement raised €1.5bn on Wednesday with a 10 year Reg S benchmark. While the deal was fully subscribed, pricing was not tightened from guidance, indicating that the frothy moves of the last three weeks may be slowing.

Caisse Centrale du Crédit Immobilier de France (3CIF) came to market with a five year bond on Monday, paving the way for fellow French agency SNCF to follow up with its green debut.

Compagnie de Financement Foncier (CFF) on Monday became the first covered bond issuer in April to tighten pricing from initial guidance. Other issuers will take confidence from it to consider longer dated funding, offering an alternative to European Central Bank’s repo facilities.

Axa said this week that it would call one of its legacy tier two bonds as it reassured the market on the strength of its balance sheet during the coronavirus crisis. Most other insurance companies are not expected to face similar decisions until much later this year.