German Sovereign

This week's funding scorecard covers, from a capital markets perspective, the major German Laender. The funding requirement covers each state's total funding requirement. However, the data on what has been raised so far only covers bond market funding and not Schuldscheine (registered bonds) or any other source of borrowing. Higher than expected tax revenues may well mean that the Laender do not have to reach their full funding requirements this year, say analysts. Estimates of total funding raised by the Laender are that none are below 50% done for the year with the average state having raised between 60%-80% of what it needs already.

Berlin made a swift return to the bond market on Tuesday, selling six year floating rate debt to German bank treasuries and following up a seven year fixed rate note on Monday. The deal did not reach full subscription however, with investors holding out for higher yielding assets.

The City State of Berlin sold a tap of seven year debt on Monday. Issuance from the Länder has been muted in recent weeks, owing to a combination of unfavourable market conditions and many investors winding down their bond purchasing for the summer.

France, Germany and Spain held well received auctions of medium to long term debt this week. Here is a round-up of key European sovereigns' funding figures.

The State of Lower Saxony sold benchmark eight year euro debt on Tuesday, pricing the fixed rate bonds flat to its curve. The deal attracted a surprising amount of investor interest given the tight spread over mid-swaps, according to bankers close to the deal.

The State of Lower Saxony mandated banks for a new eight year benchmark euro deal on Monday, the first benchmark fixed rate bond from a German state since the start of June.

France passed its first test since losing its last triple-A rating on Friday, placing nearly €8bn of bills on Monday with just a slight increase in yields from a week ago. The sovereign is expected to sail through an auction of longer dated debt later on Thursday with similar ease, but a debt auction for Spain on the same day may be a tougher sell as investors digest the latest political scandal from the country, said analysts.

The State of Rhineland-Palatinate and NRW.Bank both sold floating rate debt at the short end of the curve on Monday, with Rhineland-Palatinate opting for a new two year euro bond while NRW.Bank chose to increase its recent three year euro deal.

Germany printed its first federal-regional bond, a Bund-Laender-Anheile (BLA), on Wednesday afternoon at a slight premium to mid-swaps in the first benchmark to grace the public sector debt markets in a week.

SSA bankers predicted that the week’s new issue supply could be confined to sovereign borrowers, as the volatility which engulfed markets late last week shows little sign of abating.

This week's funding scorecard focuses on some of Europe's key sovereigns. Next week's scorecard will offer an update on Spanish regions and gencies.

The Finanzagentur unveiled on Thursday which states will participate in the inaugural Bund-Laender-Anheile.