Germany

Daimler, the German auto company, has come to market with the first sterling offering by any borrower since August, albeit in the modest form of a £125m tap.

Covered bond issuers failed to take heed of poor market conditions and, just like lemmings, followed one another with poorly performing deals this week.

NordLB

LBBW

Commerzbank

A trio of European public sector issuers tapped Kangaroo and Kauri deals on Wednesday as bankers bemoaned the shortage of larger deals in Australian dollars.

The sharp fall in commodity prices over the past 12 months has placed the energy sector under increased scrutiny from credit investors. But it tends to be exploration and production firms, as well as mining companies, that have borne the brunt of negative sentiment. Utilities often benefit from lower prices in raw materials and their spread performance over the last year has been typical of the sector’s defensive status.

Deutsche Kreditbank just managed to raise €500m of eight year funding on Tuesday with a public sector pfandbrief. The transaction only just managed to get over the finishing line but in the current ‘dull and shaky’ market conditions, this was good enough.

The euro pipeline for SSAs is fit to burst amid strong conditions, with a trio of issuers hitting screens on Monday and at least one borrower set to come with a deal later in the week.

Germany is set to become the first eurozone sovereign to settle its derivative transactions via central clearing, after announcing plans on Monday to become a direct clearing member of EurexOTC Clear.

SGL Carbon, the German manufacturer of products from carbon, issued a successful €167m convertible bond on Wednesday morning, and launched the repurchase of an existing CB.

The Euromoney Smaller European Companies Index Series currently comprises 1350 companies across 16 European countries.