Germany

Concerns over the UK’s exit from the European Union, which have increased following Tuesday’s series of votes in parliament on the matter, will not affect demand for sterling SSA paper, according to bankers.

Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) and Aareal Bank found strong demand for their Pfandbrief this week. Despite pricing tightly to mid-swaps the deals offered a generous pick-up to Bunds, which ensured broad based interest.

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A quiet week for corporate bond issuance may have helped BMW Finance achieve tight pricing on Thursday, but selling its largest ever deal with new issue premiums in single digits was still an excellent outcome when compared to the premiums being paid at the start of the month.

L-Bank’s first dollar benchmark of the year was in keeping with a trend in the currency so far this year for oversubscribed deals with low concessions, as leads calculated a 1bp new issue premium for the deal.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank was over three times covered for a 10 year affordable housing bond on Wednesday, allowing it to tighten multiple times during pricing to leave no concession, according to on-looking bankers. Meanwhile, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia has appointed banks to arrange a roadshow in Europe and Asia for a long dated euro sustainability bond.

German fashion house Gerry Weber has filed for insolvency after failing to repay a Schuldschein tranche last November and after subsequent discussions with lenders about restructuring the company broke down. The result is that Schuldschein lenders are out of pocket and have yet another example of default in a market ill-suited to the idea. Silas Brown investigates.

Kommunalbanken took advantage of being the sole SSA issuer in dollars on Tuesday as it was more than twice subscribed and tightened pricing on its first dollar benchmark of the year. Concerns over volatility from this week’s US Federal Open Market Committee meeting and non-farm payrolls kept some other issuers on the sidelines, said SSA bankers — although two are braving Wednesday’s market.

KfW brought yet another record breaking trade to the SSA market in 2019, printing a five year euro benchmark whose order book volume was an all-time high for the issuer.

After a string of very successful 10 year covered bond trades, it was clear that seven and five year deals would “fly like hell,” said a syndicate manager on one of the deals issued on Tuesday by Swedbank and Aareal Bank.

Berlin Hyp showed that there was plenty of demand for bonds with longer and more unusual tenors on Tuesday, surprising some on-looking bankers on its return to the preferred senior format.

NRW.Bank is preparing to issue its first Sonia-linked bond in 2019, joining several public sector borrowers that have made their first foray into the alternative sterling reference rate market this year.