Natixis

The Republic of Latvia picked up a book of mid-€3bn for a €1bn 10 year bond on Thursday, pricing flat to its curve and polishing off its funding requirement for the year.

Price guidance for Latvia’s euro benchmark 10 has been tightened to 125bp over mid-swaps, in a move widely expected after a generous starting position. Two bankers away from the deal had said they expected to see tightening from the initial 135bp starting number before the Reg S note was priced later on Thursday.

A jumbo green bond bond from Region Ile-de-France this week could signal a new drive by French regional governments into the growing market for socially responsible debt, writes Nathan Collins.

CGG sold its first high yield bond in euros on Wednesday. The French geosciences business, formerly CGGVeritas, increased its deal from €360m to €400m and priced it inside guidance with a 5.875% coupon.

Aluminum Corporation of China last week raised $400m with its second dollar perpetual bond. The deal was increased from a $200m-$300m target as investors responded enthusiastically to the bond’s shorter call date.

Wells Fargo and Macquarie Bank highlighted the demand for floating rate paper on Tuesday, with both banks selling euro denominated FRNs. Syndicate officials away from the deal said that the deals are likely to be the last senior trades from banks ahead of the Easter break.

Icade, the French listed property company partly owned by Caisse des Depots et Consignations, returned to the bond market on Wednesday with a €500m no-grow seven year bond that was five times oversubscribed.

Six bank and finance names raised $14.5bn in the space of three days, boasting bulging order books and minimal new issue concessions as investors scrambled for extra yield.

On Thursday UBS issued its first covered bond since January 2012, capitalising on market momentum created by the Lloyds trade on Wednesday, which was the same size, tenor and rating.

Caisse Francaise de Financement Local (Caffil) mandated and priced a €500m tap of its October 2028 covered bond on Tuesday, doubling the size of the deal to €1bn.

French lender BPCE is set to sell its debut Kangaroo bond on Friday in what will also be its first foray to the public Aussie dollar market. The issuer is likely to benefit from a lack of competing supply from Australian lenders and good recent demand for European banks.

BPCE took advantage of improving conditions and a light pipeline mid-week to feed the undersupplied sterling market, printing the largest ever deal in that market from a French bank.