Lloyds Bank

Lloyds Bank debuted its first ever Australian dollar bond through its senior holding company on Wednesday. As growing numbers of foreign lenders are drawn to the Australian currency — a consequence of the high rates relative to other markets and a buoyant economy — there is a growing incentive for international borrowers to place bonds down under.

As the European Central Bank meeting suspended euro issuance on Thursday, British Land took the opportunity to grab UK investors’ attention with its first senior bond for 11 years. The £300m 12 year deal followed Tuesday’s £250m seven year transaction from Total, which had an order book of around £600m.

Telefónica printed the largest single tranche of the day on Tuesday, with a €1.25bn deal with a January 2028 maturity. Despite competing with three other corporate bond deals in the euro market, the deal built a €3bn order book and was printed with a single digit new issue premium.

As expected, no euro issuers were tempted to compete with the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday, however British Land took the opportunity to bring its first senior bond since 2006.

Senior preferred debt has never been cheaper for banks — and it has regulatory benefits as well. While funding teams rush to meet bail-in targets, there's a value in keeping the old asset class alive.

On Tuesday, Telefonica printed the largest single tranche of the day, with a €1.25bn deal with a January 2028 maturity. Despite competing with three other corporate bond deals in the euro market, the deal built a €3bn order book and printed with a single digit new issue premium.

Two holidays and September’s European Central Bank meeting will mean the next two weeks will offer short windows for issuance, but the success of the two deals that priced this week will inspire corporate bond issuers looking at the market.

The success of the UK’s ring fencing rules, which one analyst described as “the worst idea the [Financial Conduct Authority] has ever put forward” will rely on the UK’s courts, which will have to agree how to transfer customers and assets for eight UK banks. The court process will start in November and kick into high gear ahead of the final deadline of January 2019.

Two deals were priced this week in the European corporate bond market, and next week already looks busier. With a roadshow under way and four others coming up, the window before September’s European Central Bank meeting looks full.

European corporate bond investors had only had one corporate bond deal to consider in August before LafargeHolcim brought its €750m 12 year deal on Tuesday. But that lean period looks to be over as ISS Global followed with a €600m 10 year transaction on Wednesday.

Anglian Water, priced a £250m eight year green bond on Monday. The size and tenor are unremarkable, and in a generation of sustainability and responsibility, a green bond should cause similarly few ripples. However, this was the first sterling-denominated green bond issued by a corporate borrower since 2015.

Eversholt Rail, the UK railway carriage leasing company, returned to the bond market after a six year gap today, to borrow £400m of 25 year amortising debt.