Loans and High Yield

Daimler has signed a €12bn one year loan with four banks, to strengthen its cash position for the pandemic’s stormier days. It joins a host of borrowers agreeing new credit lines with relationship banks, rather than drawing down existing facilities. Bankers say the borrowers hope to enter the bond markets down the line.

Dollar high yield and convertible bond buyers dived straight into the riskiest possible end of the market on Wednesday, snapping up rescue issues for cruise operator Carnival Corporation, a firm at the centre of the coronavirus storm. Carnival pledged nearly all its ships to back bondholders’ investments, while convert investors spied a chance to double their money — if the cruise industry can bounce back. Aidan Gregory, Jon Hay, Sam Kerr and Owen Sanderson report.

Private sector insurance companies have written extensive guarantees for the purchase of new aircraft from Boeing and Airbus in the past two years, filling a gap in the market left by the retreat of US Eximbank and European export credit agencies. But with aircraft around the world grounded and airlines slashing capital expenditure, these insurance firms could be stuck with the risk.

As the coronavirus eats into the global economy, most companies are putting their share buy-back programmes on hold — but there are exceptions. ContourGlobal, which generates power in emerging markets, has launched a new buy-back programme, while Philips is using an unusual derivative technique to adapt its plan to crisis conditions.

Dollar high yield buyers showed up in force for the largest priming debt opportunity provided so far by the coronavirus crisis, Carnival Corporation’s $4bn rescue offering, priced alongside a convertible and an equity capital raising on Wednesday. The package provides funds for the stricken cruise operator until November, but even if the company can’t start sailing again this year or next, investors in the new issue are first in line for the firm’s $38bn of assets.

Dyson has become the first UK company to sell private placements in the past month, as the coronavirus complicates primary issuance and the market instead focuses on amendments to existing deals. Sources said the UK manufacturer succeeded because it was realistic over the price it would have to pay.

The high yield bond leg of the rescue package for cruise company Carnival is flying off the shelves in the dollar market, leading the company to increase it from $3bn to $4bn, cut pricing, and drop the planned euro tranche entirely — but the equity capital raising is proving tougher and has been shrunk by $500m.

Equipment rental firm Loxam has signalled that it plans to shore up its liquidity by tapping the French government’s loan guarantee scheme — an option off the table for leveraged companies elsewhere.

Spain’s El Corte Inglés has signed a €1.311bn short-term revolving credit facility, with the department store returning to the loan market twice in quick succession to make sure it has the cash to ride out the next year.

Indian debt issuers are starting to feel the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced a country-wide lockdown for three weeks. With dollar bonds slumping in the secondary market and downgrades coming fast, the outlook for borrowers is bleak.

Carnival Cruises, the world’s largest leisure travel company, is rolling the dice on a coronavirus rescue package, launching a $1.25bn underwritten rights issue, $1.75bn convertible bond, and a $3bn dual currency high yield bond.

Investment grade companies have rushed back to the bond market, while syndicate bankers in riskier and more complex asset classes are wondering when their turns will come. Yum Brands reopened US high yield on Monday, leaving European high yield desks hoping a bold issuer would try this side of the Atlantic. Euro buyers were teased a piece of Carnival's rescue package, but lost out to a strong dollar market.