Latin America

Latin American borrowers continue to make up for lost time amid encouraging issuance conditions as debt capital markets bankers say a few more could sneak through to primary markets before the August break.

Debt capital markets bankers say more Mexican companies could rush to bond markets, as strong conditions for issuance outweigh the increasing concerns surrounding the direction of the country's economy.

Just 16 days after Laurentino Cortizo took office as president, Panama tapped the bond market for its largest ever deal. The government said it needed to raise funds to make overdue payments.

Peruvian holding company Intercorp Peru is looking to tap bond investors for dollar and nuevo sol denominated funding as it seeks to refinance existing bonds and invest in its subsidiaries.

Mexican leasing company Docuformas offered a double-digit yield on its return to bond markets but was able to issue twice the amount of its last deal, offering its first index-eligible bond in the process.

Petrobras will buy back $1.79bn of dollar bonds to go with the $639m-equivalent it spent repurchasing sterling and euro notes last week, but the Brazilian state-owned oil giant’s debt buy-back looks set to fall below the $3bn target on this occasion.

Real estate investment trust (Reit) Fibra Terrafina sold $500m of 10 year bonds on Monday, with hefty tightening allowing the borrower to price closer to its largest Mexican rival than expected.

The consortium building the second line of the Lima and Callao Metro in Peru will meet bond investors this week as it looks to finance a mandatory redemption of a portion of the borrower’s existing notes caused by delays in the project.

Five Latin American companies and Caribbean-based Cable & Wireless (C&W) all sold dollar deals on Thursday, as borrowers jumped on improved expectations of a US rate cut and seemed to shrug off a sell-off in US Treasuries later in the day.

Argentina’s leading telecoms company became the latest borrower from the country to tap international investors on Thursday, but though bond investors showed plenty of enthusiasm for Telecom Argentina’s bond comeback, some were wary about oversupply from the country.

The Natural Disaster Fund, backed by the UK government, has a first option to subscribe to a small catastrophe bond to be issued by the Danish Red Cross, which conveys volcano risk.

Argentina’s best borrowers continue to seek to take advantage of a recently opened funding window in international markets, with Telecom Argentina plotting to sell new debt to refinance old bonds.