News content

Russian state owned giant Gazprom released initial price thoughts for a euro seven year bond on Wednesday morning at a level that bankers away from the deal said was around 20bp back of the company’s curve.

If there was a measured pace to corporate bond issuance on Monday, on Tuesday it roared back to the frenetic pace seen the week before. A triple tranche dual currency deal by BT was the largest deal of the day, but the other trades offered a lot of variety for investors.

The last time British Telecommunications sold sterling bonds, the global financial crisis was still beyond the horizon. It returned on Tuesday after more than 10 years only issuing in euros and dollars, but investors were not as welcoming as the issuer may have expected.

Investors in green corporate bonds had two very different deals offered to them on Tuesday. Spanish utility Iberdrola sold a green hybrid bond, while Toyota Motor Credit Corp, Toyota’s auto finance subsidiary, offered a long 3.5 year green tranche alongside a seven year non-green tranche.

Money is pouring out of South African assets amid national Treasury upheaval and a warning from state owned electricity company Eskom that its liquidity levels are below where the company wants them amid a tough funding environment.

GAC-Sofinco Auto Finance is returning to the Chinese asset backed securities market seeking Rmb4bn ($602.9m) — its first outing since 2014.

UK based drinks manufacturer Diageo returned to corporate bond markets on Wednesday with a three year and long six year dual tranche offering, while German housing association Vonovia continued the recent trend for two year floating rate notes.

It would have been difficult to match last week’s start to the week, but Monday did see three new corporate bond issuers offering four tranches totalling €2.275bn to investors, despite the weak performance of bonds in secondary trading on Thursday and Friday.

European property company SEGRO European Logistics Partnership (SELP) sold its second ever corporate bond on Monday, doubling its total issuance and extending its maturity profile, while paying very little premium.

Toyota Motor Finance (China) is hitting the Chinese asset-backed securities (ABS) market for a second time this year. The Japanese automaker maker will approach investors with a Rmb3bn ($452.1m) deal on November 16.

After years of anticipation, China has finally opened the door to majority foreign ownership across its financial sector. But instead of reacting with jubilance, international banks appear cautious as they await more details from regulators and remain vigilant of the challenges ahead, ranging from fierce local competition to licencing procedures.

20 deals priced in European corporate bond markets this week, but the secondary market widened as equities fell on Thursday. Some of Thursday’s deals felt the effects of this in their bookbuild processes, and no deals were launched on Friday. So is this a temporary blip, or a more permanent widening?