LBBW

A pair of banks made opportunistic moves into a euro market buoyed by positive headlines around a potential US stimulus bill on Wednesday. France’s Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group each tapped for senior paper, raising €500m a piece.

FIG borrowers may be well funded, but rates are low and market conditions are good enough to support opportunistic issuance — as was shown this week by a slate of deals across the capital structure. Given a volatile end to 2020 is likely, issuers will need to stay alert and take advantage of funding windows as they arise, write Frank Jackman and Bill Thornhill.

Nordic banks are likely to focus on smaller private placements for the rest of the year, with many already having enough liquidity that they do not need to print new benchmarks.

KfW mandated banks for a seven year euro benchmark on Monday, a deal which was already expected to arrive this week and could well be the German agency’s final public deal in the currency this year.

Munich Airport has launched a Schuldschein with an initial target of €200m, the first airport to enter the market since a flurry of deals in March as the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe.

Rating: Aa1/AA/AAA

KfW could be set to hit screens with a euro benchmark next week in what may be its final public deal in the currency this year, according to bankers. The bond is likely to come with a seven year maturity, a tenor that the Free State of Saxony struggled with on Thursday, finishing with the book only around half covered.

German electricity transmission firm Amprion launched Schuldschein and Namensschuldverschreibungen (NSV) notes on Wednesday, becoming the first borrower to launch a deal into the market this month. Bankers are gearing up for a busy fourth quarter.

The European Financial Stability Facility mandated banks on Monday to lead a euro dual tranche transaction in what could be the issuer’s first and final outing of the fourth quarter.

Green, social and sustainable issuance has dominated the supranational and agency bond market for a whole month, consistently outpacing conventional supply. That trend looks set to continue with three SRI deals already on screens.

The sustainability-linked debt structure, which has already spread from the loan market to corporate bonds, has made its first appearance in a convertible bond, with a deal by Dürr. CB specialists expect it will take root in that asset class too. Jon Hay and Aidan Gregory report.

Bank Nederlandse Gementeen kicked off a busy week for socially responsible bond issuance by public sector borrowers with a well-received 12 year sustainable bond, its longest ever deal in that format.