Natixis

Aircraft leasing company Avolon has returned to the offshore syndications market for a $300m loan.

The European Financial Stability Facility rebooted the euro public sector market on Monday with an intraday execution ahead of what SSA bankers expect to be a busy week for supply. Belgium and KfW are already on screens for benchmark trades in the 10 year part of the curve.

As is becoming traditional in the European corporate bond market, car finance issuers sold the first new issues of the year. The fact the market had to wait just one day was a positive, considering that the backdrop was largely unchanged from the end of 2018, when the market had been difficult to access. However, there were some warning signs other issuers will do well to heed.

The European corporate bond market had to wait just one day for the first new issue of 2019. Some participants had expected volatility in the global financial markets to result in a blank first week for corporates, but finance subsidiaries of Renault and Toyota opted to start their financing for the year on Thursday.

Natixis’s share price plunged on Wednesday after the bank reported a €260m hedging loss in its Asian equity derivatives business, an event which some analysts say other firms could suffer in 2019.

Russian Copper Co (RCC) has closed a $250m five year credit facility, marking the second refinancing that RCC has secured this year. The tight margin sparked a sliver of optimism in the market.

The UK’s CityFibre has signed a £1.12bn debt package from seven banks, as the Goldman Sachs-linked fibre broadband infrastructure provider rolls out its nationwide competition against incumbent firms BT and Virgin Media.

Fosun Tourism Group, a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, is being spun-off and has started bookbuilding for its HK$4.28bn ($547.19m) Hong Kong IPO.

French postal operator La Poste saved the corporate bond market in Europe from registering a blank week when it sold its first green bond last Friday. On Wednesday, Deutsche Post followed its peer’s lead by announcing a deal with the same tenor.

Hong Kong conglomerate New World Development Co printed its first green bond this week, raising $310m. While its green efforts were lauded, the company’s lack of rating kept many investors at bay.

Electricité de France has extended and amended its €4bn revolving credit facility to link it to environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, as green-centric loans continue to gain traction among borrowers.

On Monday, French supermarkets group Carrefour made its second visit to the corporate bond market of 2018, once again in the wake of a period of volatility. However, the company’s timing proved to be good as it was able to tighten pricing 15bp from initial price thoughts.