Italy
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Italy this week began the slow process of reopening its economy after months of strict lockdown. The country's equity bankers are busy preparing new deals, including IPOs, writes Sam Kerr. -
Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, May 4. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.
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GVS, the Italian manufacturer of filters and components for among other groups, healthcare companies, is on track to list in Milan this summer, according to sources close to the deal. The company is likely to be the first major listing on the Italian exchange this year after Covid-19 froze the market.
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The European Central Bank’s press conference on Thursday did not provide the headline fireworks that its last meeting did. The sombre tone caused “disappointment” among investors and a slight widening of peripheral spreads. SSA issuers were also left dissatisfied with the bank’s lack of support for the money markets.
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The European Commission’s plans for a recovery fund will not be enough to prevent Italy’s public finances suffering a severe fiscal deterioration said Fitch, after the ratings agency downgraded the sovereign on Tuesday night.
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Equities have made a stirring recovery since the record coronavirus sell-off in March. Corporates, looking to raise cash by any means necessary to survive the crisis and lower their risk, have taken advantage of the uplift, selling non-core equity holdings. Now, more are being urged to get in on the trade while it lasts, as there are fears that stock markets will plummet again if lockdowns or infections worsen with the pandemic far from over, writes Sam Kerr.
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Italy was able to raise almost €6bn in auctions with ease on Wednesday following Tuesday night’s unexpected downgrade by Fitch, which leaves it just one notch above junk.
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Fitch Ratings has lowered Italy’s credit rating one notch to BBB- on Tuesday night, making the move more than two months ahead of its scheduled review in July.
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From Italian government bonds to fallen angels, nothing is junk unless the European Central Bank says so.
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Italy’s credit rating is dividing analysts. Some believe that it should have been downgraded by S&P on April 24 because of the country's ballooning debt burden, while others felt that the European Central Bank can keep the refinancing risk at bay.
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Any concerns over whether the eurozone periphery would have market access after Bund spreads yawned wider during the past week were put to bed by a combined €31bn of borrowing from Italy and Spain. The sovereigns paid what was needed to put impressive dents in their ballooning funding requirements, ahead of a hotly anticipated European Council meeting on Thursday. Lewis McLellan and Tyler Davies report.
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