German Sovereign

German regions opted to increase existing deals this week, as City State of Hamburg priced a tap and State of Rhineland Palatinate also mandated banks for a reopening.

FMS Wertmanagement and the State of Thuringia both came to market with euro trades on Wednesday, FMS launching a new long two year line and Thuringia tapping seven year paper. Both issuers were able to achieve favourable pricing in not entirely favourable market conditions.

The Federal State of Brandenburg priced an eight year benchmark trade on Tuesday. Demand for the paper was buoyed by deteriorating sentiment on the eurozone’s periphery, leading to a more granular and high quality orderbook than is sometimes seen on trades from Germany länder.

The Federal State of Hessen has mandated banks for its second syndicated trade of the year, a seven year fixed rate deal expected to launch on Tuesday morning. Leads are expecting to attract enough demand for a benchmark trade, but, with pricing tight for German states, it could be difficult to stir up demand.

The EIB opened its EARNs programme for the year on Thursday with a successful five year deal that achieved giant size, tightened pricing and a sub-Libor reoffer level. The deal was the latest example of how much January 2013 has so far felt like a return to pre subprime crisis days in the SSA market.

The German state of Hessen priced a 10 year benchmark on Monday to open its annual funding task.

The State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania came to market with its first benchmark syndicated trade, a 10 year bond, on Monday morning. The deal absorbed investor interest stirred up by the State of Lower Saxony’s seven year deal last week.

Lower Saxony was the first of the German states to come to market this year, pricing a seven year trade on Thursday. The leads will price the deal on Thursday afternoon, following a bookbuild impaired by a lack of interest from domestic investors.

The Dutch State Treasury has plumped for a three year auction next week to kick off its long term funding for the year. Strong appetite for risk could mean international demand is lacklustre, but the domestic investor base will carry the auction through, said analysts.

The State of North-Rhine Westphalia priced a tap of a May 2016 sterling floater on Monday afternoon in line with its secondary levels.

The State of North-Rhine Westphalia was set to price a tap of a May 2016 sterling floater on Monday afternoon in line with guidance, a week after raising €1.5bn of December 2017 paper in a heavily oversubscribed benchmark.

WIBank, the development bank of the German state of Hessen, issued its debut public bond on Wednesday morning. The deal reached four times subscription, with the paper offering investors the safety of a credit guaranteed by a German state along with a pickup over where an issue from the State of Hessen would have been likely to price.