NatWest Markets

NatWest Markets made a loss in the first quarter, Royal Bank of Scotland said on Friday when presenting its results, partly thanks to it being made to account for the cost of old RBS plc debt. The group will also now stop including NatWest Markets when reporting its net interest margin, and one analyst said this could raise questions about commitment to the investment bank.

Guarantor: Kingdom of Belgium (51.41%), Republic of France (45.59%) and Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (3.00%)

Tesco issued a new £400m six year bond, to fund a tender for bonds from eight older issues, and saw blow-out demand of £3.3bn, as the UK supermarket heads back towards investment grade status.

Dexia printed a £1bn trade on Thursday, showing that borrowers interested in sterling can still see success in the UK market if they can be nimble enough around headline risk.

The sterling market came alive this week, with three issuers raising their heads above the parapet after a few slow weeks in the currency.

Terminal Investment Limited (TIL), a port operator headquartered in the Netherlands with terminals in 21 countries, has launched a US private placement (US PP) transaction in euros and dollars.

Tesco has launched a comprehensive liability management across eight bonds, to be funded by a new issue from its recently updated MTN shelf. The move comes as the UK-based supermarket group teeters on the verge of a full upgrade to investment grade status.

NatWest Markets has hired an experienced covered bond trader from Nomura. The move is the latest example of staff swapping between the two firms, but also underscores the UK’s bank ambitions plans.

Despite coming from a tough sector, and having some risks of its own, the UK clothing retailer Next got an order book nine times oversubscribed on Wednesday, on a £250m six year corporate bond issue.

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Hungry for some social purpose, and perhaps a longer maturity, investors hoovered up Yorkshire Water’s first sustainable bond on Thursday. This allowed the UK utility to tighten the pricing to fair value or even tighter.

Ineos, with a split high yield/investment grade rating, announced a drive-by €770m seven year non-call three bond issue on Monday, refinancing its 4% 2023 bond of the same size.