LatAm Bonds

No Latin America companies issued and just one announced bond plans this week as an EM currency slump sent shivers through the market, but investors said the market was far from shut.

Argentinian president Mauricio Macri’s politically bold but economically astute move to approach the IMF for financing lifted bond prices on Thursday, but markets are continuing to digest a shock period of volatility that has caused drastic reassessments of emerging market debt’s standout story in recent years. Olly West reports.

The last two weeks have been the toughest in recent memory for emerging market bond investors who have seen their assets in local currencies and dollars alike take a hammering amid the collapse in the Argentine peso and Turkish lira.

Following another tough day for Argentine bonds, the country’s economy minister Nicolás Dujovne clarified after market close on Wednesday that the government was seeking a stand-by agreement from the IMF.

Empresas CMPC, the Chilean pulp and paper company, is the ideal company to venture into uncertain bond market waters, syndicate bankers said after the company announced roadshow plans.

Market pressure on Argentina in recent weeks drove President Macri to take what initially felt like a radical step by roping in the IMF. But what first seemed like a horrific déjà vu is actually a sign that things are getting better in the most underperforming EM nation.

The strengthening dollar is wreaking havoc for emerging market bond investors as assets in local currencies and dollars alike take a hammering.

Primary markets in Latin America stayed silent on Tuesday amid a hefty sell-off in EM currencies, with Ecuador and Argentina continuing to provide country-specific volatility.

A 675bp rate hike from the Argentine central bank, BCRA, on Friday finally brought some support to the peso. But the sovereign’s bonds continue to trade poorly as the currency’s recent free-fall highlighted the many vulnerabilities in the country’s economic recovery.

Central America development bank Cabei (BCIE in Spanish) has hired a new head of debt capital markets to lead its bond issuance programme.

Aeropuerto de Tocumen, the airport of Panama City, was the only Latin American to raise debt in international markets this week as it raised $225m of 30 year money.

Two Argentine corporates postponed bond issues on Thursday as the Central Bank of Argentina’s (BCRA) attempts to control the fall in the peso proved fruitless, leaving investors asking questions about the country’s economic outlook. Oliver West reports.