Ireland

Bank of Ireland and Caja Rural Unidas issued this week’s only two covered bonds from Europe’s periphery, both offering attractive concessions.

Bank of Ireland returned to the euro covered bond market for the third time this year to raise €750m on a comfortably oversubscribed book. Though cheap by historical standards, the hefty new issue premium left some unconvinced about the market outlook.

Italy blew the doors off the market with the first eurozone periphery sovereign benchmark in a month. And with extra explosives from the European Central Bank, it may have blown a hole big enough for its peers to pile through, writes Craig McGlashan.

A eurozone sovereign wrapped up its funding programme for the year by cutting borrowing costs at its first auction since moving within touching distance of fully single-A status.

A eurozone periphery sovereign is set to meet investors before a possible euro syndication, as a pair of countries from the region unveiled their funding plans for the rest of the year.

Spain’s borrowing costs dropped to their lowest levels since spring at an auction on Thursday, rounding off a week where the country outperformed its nearest peer in secondary markets.

Pentair, the UK-headquartered maker of fluid and thermal systems, priced a €500m bond in line with initial price thoughts on Monday, after deciding to plough ahead with its funding plans despite a difficult market.

Pentair, the UK-headquartered maker of fluid and thermal systems, priced a €500m bond in line with initial price thoughts on Monday, after deciding to plough ahead with its funding plans despite a difficult market.

Ireland has cut its 15 year borrowing costs at its biggest auction of the tenor this year, as Italy prepares to tempt investors even further out the maturity curve.

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

FBD Holdings, the unrated Irish insurance company, told investors in August it would be exploring the option of a bond offering before Solvency II regulations take effect next year, but Irish news media report the deal has been shelved.

Depfa ACS Bank has only one rating remaining after Standard & Poor’s became the second agency to withdraw its covered bond rating this week. Analysts suggest this could result in forced selling of Depfa’s covered bonds if Moody’s follows suit, but they still believe that the bonds will be paid out in full.