LatAm Bonds

Market analysts are confident that Venezuela's PDVSA can make imminent debt payments, but there is little consensus beyond that after the oil company waited until the last possible moment to release funds for a principal payment on Friday.

Latin America’s most prolific issuer of the last two years is hoping to make its expected return to the euro-denominated bond market on Thursday.

Pan-Latin American power generator and distributor Inkia Energy is meeting fixed income investors this week ahead of a planned 10 year bond issue.

Latin American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) is gearing up for its debut Panda bond before the end of 2017, which would make it the first in the format from South America. But the deal will only go ahead if the People’s Bank of China fulfills its promise of making the issuance process easier for foreign borrowers, the issuer told GlobalRMB.

As Venezuela edges closer to a catastrophic default, bond issue markets in Latin America continued to thrive this week as three Lat Am borrowers snatched blow-out deals.

Argentine stocks and bonds enjoyed a strong week after President Mauricio Macri’s Cambiemos coalition’s impressive showing in mid-term elections on October 22, and one issuer has wasted no time in jumping on the improving sentiment.

Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA left bondholders clueless on Thursday evening as to whether it would make a $985m amortisation and interest payment on time on Friday, with some calling the chances of a large and ugly default no better than a coin toss, writes Oliver West.

Lat Am bond bankers expect at least two borrowers from the region to price new deals on Thursday, after a quiet couple of days in new issue markets.

Lender Banco Hipotecario, which was the first Argentine borrower in cross-border markets after Mauricio Macri’s presidential election win in November 2015, could also be the first to issue after the president’s successful showing in mid-terms last Sunday.

Argentine bonds and stocks rallied strongly on Monday after the ruling Cambiemos coalition bettered the predictions of already favourable opinion polls at Sunday’s mid-term elections.

Falabella, the Chilean retail company, raised $400m of new debt in a 5.5 times subscribed deal on Monday, as bond bankers say the party in Lat Am bond markets is set to continue.

As bondholders await some kind of communication on overdue coupon payments from Venezuela, PDVSA and Electricidad de Caracas, Standard & Poor's has said it is “uncertain” about oil company PDVSA’s ability to pay forthcoming bond maturities.