Italy

UBI Banca has given financial institutions bond investors one of their first opportunities to pick up high yielding product in the euro market this year, with the Italian lender opening books on a new tier two on Monday.

Unione di Banche Italiane issued the most heavily subscribed Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite since January 2013, showing that, despite pricing over 100bp tighter than Italian government bonds, it offered value to some investors. Demand was probably boosted by an improvement in sentiment that followed comments from the European Central Bank suggesting a new stimulus package is in the offing.

Italian auto finance bank FCA Bank found the feelgood factor in full effect on Friday as market participants suggested it priced a new three year deal more than 40bp tighter than if it had sold the same deal at the start of the year.

Troubled Italian construction company Astaldi announced on Thursday that it had an offer from rival firm Salini Impregilo to inject €225m of new capital, take over control of the firm, and convert unsecured creditors, including high yield bondholders, into shareholders of the group.

Record breaking Italian football club Juventus made its debut in the corporate bond market on Wednesday. It used the Agnelli family’s involvement in the ownership and running of the club for nearly a century to market the bond, but Italian football clubs do not have a great financial track record, writes Nigel Owen.

Italy’s UniCredit was able to raise €1bn of new tier two capital without having to pay a large premium on Wednesday, adding to recent evidence that the subordinated debt market is in rude health.

Rating: Baa3/BBB/BBB

Italy received record-breaking demand for a long end syndication this week, overtaking its previous record set only last month. But it wasn’t all positive for Italy, as its bonds took a hit after the European Commission cut the country’s growth forecast on Thursday.

Italy passed a test at the long end of the curve with a final order book of over €41bn for a 30 year syndication on Wednesday — far surpassing its previous record book that was set only last month.

Italy will test peripheral sovereign appetite in the long end after hitting screens on Tuesday for a 30 year syndication.

Società per la Gestione di Attività (SGA), Italy’s bad loan management vehicle, is preparing to sell its first senior unsecured bond in the euro market. The company’s funding needs have risen amid a growing focus on cleaning up the Italian banking sector.

In this round-up, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) hired from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for its top job, Sinopec’s trading arm revealed a substantial trading loss for last year, and the annual report from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) shows growth in both bond volumes and investor type.