NatWest Markets

UK coach operator National Express has entered the US private placement market, according to market sources, looking for £200m-equivalent, in dollars, euros and sterling.

Bankers were surprised that the African Development Bank placed a one year bond last week linked to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

The Kerry Group, the Irish Baa2/BBB+ rated food and beverage company, became the first European investment grade company to issue bonds after the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.

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Bank of Montreal and Rothesay Life made use of the quieter political situation in the UK this week to issue in sterling, in the same week issuance paced down in the euro market ahead of the European Central Bank’s meeting.

A trio of supranationals harnessed a lack of sterling supply to reopen the market this week. The World Bank brought the first fixed rate supranational deal since August, while the Asian Development Bank and European Investment Bank both reopened Sonia-linked notes.

In the nervous last day before the European Central Bank's much-hyped monetary policy announcement on Thursday, only two corporate bond issuers brought deals. Both Orange, the French telecoms group, and Worldline, the French payments group carved out of Atos.

The Asian Development Bank joined the syndicated sterling issuance run started by the European Investment Bank earlier this week, pricing a £300m tap of its March 2024 Sonia-linked note on Wednesday. The World Bank looks set to follow with a fixed rate tap on Thursday that bankers feel could give a good indication of the market’s appetite for the format amid volatility.

Bank of Montreal was marketing a senior preferred bond in sterling on Tuesday, one day after Rothesay Life gave FIG investors a chance to put their money in tier two in the same currency. The Canadian issuer started its trade with a 15bp-20bp concession, according to a banker off the deal.

Rothesay Life chose a quieter day in UK politics to issue a tier two in the sterling market on Tuesday. It also took advantage of the lack of supply in the currency and the deal was oversubscribed four times its £400m size.

Corporate bond issuers made full use of the last few days before the European Central Bank's much-anticipated announcement on monetary policy on Thursday. Despite the hectic activity of the past two weeks, investors were still oversubscribing deals two or three times.

The frenzy of investment grade corporate bond issuance in Europe intensified on Thursday, when eight companies came to market, issuing a total of €6.6bn of paper in euros. That brought the total for the first four days of this week to over €20bn. Despite the heavy supply, issuers have found sufficient demand to support their notes.