LatAm Bonds

Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, the operator of 35 airports in the country, is asking bondholders for temporary relief on amortisation and coupon payments as it looks to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its cash flow.

Central American development bank Cabei will hold investor calls this week as it prepares to bring its first 144A bond in nearly eight years.

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) completed a capitalisation on Monday, increasing its authorised capital from $5bn to $7bn.

A swift, firm rejection from the bondholder group considered to hold most sway in Argentina’s restructuring negotiations effectively closed the doors on any chance of success for the government’s first offer less than one business day after it had announced terms.

Latin American bond markets, barely back on their feet after the initial onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, had to contend on Monday with an unprecedented collapse in oil prices too. The sight of WTI trading below zero made some market participants nervous and suggested issuers with funding needs should brace for unexpected bouts of volatility.

Over 90% of Ecuador’s external bondholders agreed to a consent solicitation that expired at 5pm New York time on Friday, more than enough to allow the government to delay all coupon payments until August. A more comprehensive debt reprofiling will follow.

After making investors wait until the end of Friday's trading session that saw a strong bid for its bonds, Argentina finally proposed terms on its mammoth external debt restructuring. With early recovery rate estimates in the 30%-35% range, investors did not even wait until the weekend was over to express their discontent.

Bondholders are expected to fight a formal restructuring proposal from the Argentine government that should arrive on Friday and proposes heavy haircuts, say market participants. Argentina’s government appears ready to play hard ball.

Bond markets handsomely rewarded Peru on Thursday for leading the way in Latin America on economic policy reaction to the Covid-19 crisis, notching its lowest ever dollar funding costs. As Peru’s public treasury director said the deal was to increase already substantial liquidity buffers, Lat Am bankers were left hoping the result would encourage more reluctant issuers.

The chief financial officer of Banco Santander México told GlobalCapital that the lender had decided to get ahead of a possible surge in demand for credit by issuing the largest ever bond by a Mexican bank on Tuesday.

The CFO of Banco Santander Mexico told GlobalCapital that the lender had decided to get ahead of a possible surge in demand for credit by issuing the largest ever bond by a Mexican bank on Tuesday. But DCM and syndicate bankers worry that most Latin American issuers are not taking advantage of strong markets to shore up cash positions with the full impact of the Covid-19 crisis still unknown.

Banco Santander Mexico showed that emerging market investors are willing to deploy cash in a greater range of credits than just sovereigns as it sharply increased the size of a five-year senior deal on Tuesday. But though the new issue concession was in line with expectations, the deal underscored the new reality of funding conditions for Latin America borrowers.