LatAm Bonds

Emerging markets bond buyers and issuers are regaining confidence as US Treasury volatility falls, with issuance in CEEMEA and Latin America having picked up in recent days and a pipeline building.

The Mexican conglomerate Fomento Económico Mexicano (Femsa) was in the market for sustainability-linked bond in euros on Thursday, marking the latest in a string of innovative trades from the Latin America.

Bonds issued by Mexican payroll lender AlphaCredit lost around half their value on Wednesday after the company revealed a correction in its accounting of derivatives positions would lead to an impairment charge of Ps4.1bn ($206m). Investors and analysts said this would take the non-bank lender’s equity into negative territory, suggesting default was a growing inevitability.

Brazilian cosmetics group Natura on Wednesday became the third Latin America company this week to announce plans to issue sustainability-linked bonds, joining Mexicans Femsa and Metalsa in the pipeline.

Latin American oil and gas company GeoPark priced a reopening of its 2027 bonds with a negative new issue concession on Tuesday, taking advantage of strong demand from holders of its old notes to raise $150m.

As Colombia’s government gears up for a political battle to push through a tax reform that may save its investment grade status, the sovereign’s head of public credit told GlobalCapital that the market reception of a dual tranche bond issue on Monday represented a vote of confidence from international investors.

Puerta de Hierro, a toll road project in Colombia’s Caribbean region, will begin investor calls on Monday as it looks to sell an inflation-linked Colombian peso-denominated social bond that has a double-A credit rating thanks to a guarantee from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Oil and gas producer Pan American Energy is looking to become the first Argentine company to issue international bonds this year, though it is the company’s operations in Bolivia and Mexico that may enable it to dodge the distress in its home country.

Scotiabank has hired a new head of syndication in New York, GlobalCapital understands.

Colombian lender Banco Davivienda and Central American renewable energy company CMI Energía both priced new issues inside the ranges indicated at guidance on Thursday, as Latin American bond markets took advantage of a strong bid for US Treasuries.

Peruvian bonds barely moved this week after a shock in the first round of the country’s presidential elections on April 11, while Ecuador debt reacted spectacularly to a positive electoral surprise on the same day. Yet there are concerns about complacency towards risks in Peru, where a left-wing radical took most first-round votes, and Latin American bond buyers should brace for more volatility as the region faces an exceptionally busy election cycle.

More than 90% of Suriname’s bondholders this week participated in a consent solicitation that extends the sovereign’s debt standstill until the end of July. But the government has only until April 30 to sign a deal with the IMF, or the standstill will be cancelled.