Germany

German supermarket group REWE International has become the first company to launch a Schuldschein deal at benchmark size this year, a sign that German blue chips may be busy in the market this year.

Vonovia, Germany’s largest housing association, may have issued the only investment grade corporate bond on Monday but, as its order books showed, conditions remained very receptive for issuance.

French toll road operator Autoroutes du Sud de la France on Wednesday followed the path its compatriot Orange had taken on Tuesday by issuing a €1bn 12 year bond, while Deutsche Bahn and Ren Finance on Thursday opted for the 10 year area of the curve. Investors appear keen to put their money to work at the longer end of the corporate bond curve.

Multi-tranche and green bond issuance returned to the investment grade corporate bond market on Tuesday, leaving just the hybrid asset class untouched in 2018. That didn’t last long, as Engie and Aroundtown launched new hybrid deals on Wednesday morning, one of which set new lows for coupons and spreads.

Public sector issuers rounded out a superlative week for dollars with sparkling results across the curve on Thursday. Bankers are confident that issuers wishing to print in the coming weeks should find that investor demand outweighs any of the political concerns that brought volatility to rates over the last few days.

Telefonica Deutschland launched a €200m Schuldschein on Thursday, which included a €50m one year tranche that was placed using blockchain technology.

NordLB issued its largest Pfandbrief since 2011 on Thursday, but the oversubscription ratio was on the low side — despite a relatively attractive new issue concession and a large order from the European Central Bank.

State owned German rail operator Deutsche Bahn steamed back into the investment grade corporate bond market on Thursday, choosing an unusual maturity that was still well received by investors. The same applied to Ren Finance, which brought a sub-benchmark 10 year deal following a roadshow earlier in the week.

The Inter-American Development Bank provided further proof on Wednesday that there is deep demand at the five year part of the dollar curve — but another supranational is stepping up to test the long end of the currency for the first time this year.

Expat Asset Management has joined German exchange group Deutsche Boerse as a new exchange traded fund issuer, debuting with an ETF that provides exposure to Bulgarian stocks.

German retail group REWE International has become the first company to launch a Schuldschein at benchmark size this year, a sign that German blue chips may be active in the market this year.

On Tuesday multi-tranche and green bond issuance returned to the investment grade corporate bond market, leaving just the hybrid asset class untouched in 2018. That didn’t last long, as Engie and Aroundtown launched new hybrid deals on Wednesday morning, one of which set new lows for the product's coupon and spread levels.