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Euro area banks delivered 0% return on equity in the second quarter, according to new figures from the European Central Bank. The industry is grappling with a decline in income and a sharp surge in loan loss provisions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Debt capital markets bankers say that smaller pricing steps are possible when selling deals on a yield basis, after bookrunners made a 7.5bp move with National Bank of Greece’s green deal this week.

National Bank of Greece (NBG) has become the lowest rated bank to issue green debt, after winning two times as much demand as it needed for a €500m senior bond on Thursday. The trade formed part of a flurry of green issuance in the FIG market, alongside new deals from Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel and Mizuho Financial Group.

China Merchants Port Holdings Co (CMP) paid a generous premium to close a $600m dual-tranche bond on Tuesday, responding to weakness in the secondary prices of similar deals.

Svenska Handelsbanken found tight pricing for a dual offering of additional tier one (AT1) notes on Tuesday. It became the first European bank to set a dollar AT1 coupon of less than 4.5% for one of its tranches.

Experian Finance, a credit scoring company, was out in the sterling bond market on Monday as a slew of euro corporate bond mandates hit screens. But the flurry is unlikely to lift a lacklustre September and a final quarter issuance window stymied by the US election means that analysts expect euro debt volumes to be almost flat on 2019.

Mizuho Financial Group will be looking to time the sale of a new senior deal very carefully this week, with euro market conditions still proving challenging for issuers.

Volvo Car, the Swedish manufacturer owned by China’s Geely Holding, sold a debut green bond this week, days after saying its freshly published green finance framework would help it transform into an electric car maker.

Turbulent conditions forced several banks to delay bond issuance plans this week, and one even pulled a transaction after launch. Deal flow is likely to pick up again soon, but the cost of funding is certain to be higher, writes Tyler Davies.

Take-up was higher than expected for the European Central Bank’s latest series of Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations on Thursday. But an overall allotment of €174bn still paled in comparison with the last round, as banks showed they already had plenty of excess liquidity on their balance sheets.

AIB Group's new euro tier two capital issue, its first green bond, was comfortably subscribed on Wednesday, lifting confidence in the bank debt market after a difficult start to the week.

India’s Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has returned to the loan market after an absence of more than 10 years. It is seeking a $175m deal.