Natixis

Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt did not need to offer any premium to investors to complete its debut sale of green covered bonds on Wednesday. The deal adds to a recent flurry of socially responsible investments, which are offering financial issuers very competitive terms.

CaixaBank attracted plenty of demand for its first Covid-19 bond on Wednesday, printing a €1bn deal at a spread that was through the fair value implied by its outstanding securities.

Mercialys, the BBB rated French shopping centre owner, launched a sub-benchmark bond with an eye-catching yield on Tuesday, wider than a simultaneous deal by Fiat Chrysler, which is crossover-rated. Syndicate bankers said trying to be precise about pricing and sentiment this week was more difficult than it had been for months.

Assicurazioni Generali and Uniqa Insurance are each looking at selling tier two capital from their green bond frameworks, using a quieter period in the new issue markets to explore more complicated and multi-faceted transactions.

Agence France Locale is set to sell its first ever sustainability bond, setting up virtual meetings with investors this week. Another debut issuer, NRW.Bank, has just announced details of its inaugural social bond.

Worldline, the French payments company, received a warm reception from bond investors on Tuesday, setting aside any concerns that the scandal at German competitor Wirecard would sully sentiment towards the sector.

Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), the central organisation for Ghana’s cocoa industry, is in the process of raising its annual syndicated loan, but bankers say the borrower is running into difficulty as lenders’ risk appetite weakens.

Worldline, the French payments company, received a warm reception from bond investors on Tuesday, putting aside any concerns that the scandal at German competitor Wirecard would sully sentiment towards the sector.

CNP Assurances and Helvetia Europe have added to issuance momentum in the insurance sector, giving investors the chance to put money into subordinated capital. The tier two bonds showed that ‘the market is back in shape’, said one deal arranger.

Fosun International pushed pricing aggressively for a new deal on Monday, but the $600m bond still surpassed its size expectations.

Hopes that the recovery from the Covid-19 recession can be a green one have been widespread throughout the crisis, and no sector is more important to that aspiration than renewable energy. The industry as a whole has been well buffered from the downturn, but there are points of pain, and the post-pandemic market will be different.

Kommunalbanken snagged NZ$500m ($324.5m) on Friday with the second largest Kauri bond of the year. Interest in the New Zealand dollar is high, with NZ$1.1bn worth of SSA Kauri deals printed so far this month — and more are set to follow.