HSBC

The European socially responsible investment corporate bond market has made a rampant start this year, with issuance in the first two weeks already more than 10% of the total issued by companies in European currencies in 2019.

Eni, the Italian oil and gas company, raised €1bn with a bond issue on Thursday, while Quadient, the unrated French postal systems company formerly known as Neopost, continued the run of more esoteric corporate bond issuance.

Investors chased after a rare $300m Basel III-compliant tier two bond from Indonesia’s Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) in both primary and secondary markets this week, sending the 12.3 times covered deal tighter in the aftermarket.

China’s Bank of Communications came out with a $1.95bn-equivalent three-tranche deal on Thursday. It opted for a bigger dollar portion and a slimmer offshore renminbi (CNH) bond, compared with its last outing.

Russian brokerage BCS Global Markets has appointed a senior banker from HSBC as head of capital markets and investment banking.

A pair of Asian SSA issuers joined a busy dollar market on Wednesday, bringing three and 10 year deals. Demand for three year dollar paper is high, with two more issuers set to join the fray on Thursday.

Emerging markets telecommunications firm Veon, formerly Vimpelcom, printed a $300m tap of its $700m 4% April 2025s on Wednesday from a book of more than $1bn and paying a new issue premium of only 5bp, according to a syndicate official on the tap.

The overwhelming supply of international bonds from Asia continued on Tuesday, as issuers dashed to raise dollars, and in one case, sterling. But not every borrower was able to cross the finish line.

Indian companies Birla Carbon and Tata Steel have mandated banks for loans and both borrowers have signed up large groups of lenders at the top level.

Spain and Cyprus attracted strong demand for their syndicated bonds on Tuesday, with the former receiving the largest ever order book for a public sector euro benchmark. Italy and Belgium will add to the eurozone sovereign supply on Wednesday after mandating leads for new 30 and 10 year trades, respectively.

KfW and Canada both launched dollar benchmarks on Wednesday, bringing a pair of highly subscribed and tight deals. Following their success, two Asian SSA issuers prepare to join the busy dollar market.

Ireland's Electricity Supply Board opened 2020's sterling corporate bond market on Tuesday and won enough demand to increase the £300m deal slightly.