Germany

Equity bankers have predicted a strong end to 2020 for primary issuance as more companies seek to raise capital to take advantage of bullish market conditions in preparation for 2021.

Luminor Bank was more than 3-1/2 times subscribed on its return to the euro market on Wednesday, allowing it to demonstrate a year-on-year improvement in its senior funding costs.

Clearstream Banking was nearly 12 times subscribed for its debut senior transaction on Tuesday, allowing it to tighten its pricing by 39bp and issue at a negative yield.

Frankfurt-listed online fashion retailer Global Fashion Group has placed €120m of stock to fund future growth during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the trend of more consumers shopping online.

Hamburg Airport has launched a Schuldschein deal, following Munich Airport’s entry into the market in early October.

Hedge funds have started to take a keen interest in the Schuldschein market, but restructuring laws in Germany set to come into effect in January will stop them before they truly get started.

KfW finished off this year’s funding programme with a €2bn green bond tap on Thursday, bringing the outstanding to €6bn and making it the largest ever non-sovereign green bond line.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress of Europe's supranationals and agencies in mid-November. Joining the scorecard this week is the European Union, which launched its Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) programme in October.

Deutsche Lufthansa, the German flag carrier, has exploited the huge rally in equity markets in recent days by issuing a €600m convertible bond, which attracted orders from over 200 investors.

The Royal College of Surgeons England has sold £40m of private placements, to help finance the redevelopment of its headquarters in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London.

Germany found lacklustre demand for its second ever green bond on Wednesday. The sovereign had to contend with a big drop in Bund yields following uncertainty over the US election result.

Moody’s gave Deutsche Bank a ‘stable’ outlook for its ratings this week, helping the issuer feel more positive about its funding costs.