Italy

Political risk appeared to be influencing investors’ decision making on Monday, as a trio of eurozone periphery sovereigns underperformed their peers in secondaries. But there was better news for Cyprus, which more than halved its one month borrowing costs at an auction.

FCA Bank, the financing joint venture of Fiat Chrysler and Crédit Agricole, issued a €500m no-grow bond today.

Snam, the Italian natural gas transmission company, priced a €750m eight year bond on Tuesday, its first issue since it was added to the list of bonds that the European Central Bank will buy as part of its public sector bond purchase programme, or quantitative easing.

Six borrowers raised nearly €5bn in the covered bond market this week, once again surpassing supply expectations. The star attraction, notable for both its size and tenor, was a €1.5bn three year from the Norwegian issuer, Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt.

Italian oil and gas company TotalErg has cut the size of a facility and mandated banks in its latest loan refinancing.

Snam, the Italian natural gas transmission company, priced a €750m eight year bond on Tuesday, its first issue since it was added to the list of bonds that the European Central Bank will buy as part of its public sector bond purchase programme, or quantitative easing.

Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane (ICBPI) began offering its €1.1bn PIK bond with fixed and floating rate tranches on Tuesday, the first time such a structure has been used in the European high yield market, according to bankers.

A steady start to the week in the European corporate bond primary market had clicked into gear by Thursday, as corporate issuers emerged at pace from earnings blackouts.

Italy based construction company Saipem has signed an agreement with seven banks in a €6.7bn refinancing which will secure the firm an investment grade rating.

Iren, the newly rated northern Italian utility company, sailed through another day of low issuance on Monday, drawing in a €3.4bn order book for a €500m bond.

Italy hit its lowest yield since the introduction of the euro at a five year bond auction on Thursday, where it also slashed nearly 35bp from its 10 year borrowing costs.

Bi. Fin, the majority shareholder of Biesse, launched on Wednesday a block sale of shares in the Italian machinery manufacturer.