Nomura

The sterling market for public sector borrowers is enjoying its best ever start to a year thanks to superlative conditions, Sonia linked debuts and a UK parliamentary vote on Brexit next week.

Sterling issuance from non-UK public sector borrowers has made by far its strongest ever start to a calendar year, with borrowers and bankers citing liquidity-laden investors and a crucial parliamentary vote on Brexit next week as factors behind the rush. Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) and FMS Wertmanagement added to the feast on Thursday, while Inter-American Development Bank will bring yet another trade this Friday.

Public sector borrowers might switch some of their attention away from a rampant euro market towards dollars, said SSA bankers, after the Inter-American Development Bank and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations brought strong trades in the currency on Wednesday.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on Wednesday became the third public sector borrower to issue an inaugural Sonia-linked bond in 2019, with the deal marking the borrower’s largest sterling bond to date.

The European Investment Bank and Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten showed the strength of the dollar market on Tuesday as they sparked the sector into life for 2019 with benchmarks offering minimal concession. Another pair of SSAs are hoping to emulate that success on Wednesday.

The International Finance Corp sold its joint biggest sterling bond by volume with its debut Sonia-linked bond on Tuesday, adding to the flurry of trades in the format since the start of the year. But the Sonia rush is “not over yet”, according to a banker at one of the leads, with a few more on the horizon before the UK parliament votes on Theresa May's Brexit deal next week.

Nomura has hired Tom Lowe to cover financial institutions in the UK and Ireland.

Chinese telecommunication software provider AsiaInfo Technologies raised HK$900m ($115m) this week after pricing its flotation at the bottom of the indicative range.

Like many recent IPOs in Hong Kong, Chinese telecommunication software provider AsiaInfo Technologies has also priced its listing at the bottom of the indicative range, raising HK$900m ($115m).

Fosun Tourism Group, a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, has raked in HK$3.34bn after sealing its IPO at the bottom of the indicative range.

Nomura said it had appointed Ralson Roberts, formerly Goldman Sachs's co-head of EMEA execution services, as chief executive of Instinet, its agency brokerage unit.

CPI Property, which owns real estate in Berlin and central and eastern Europe, entered Tokyo’s Pro-Bond market on Friday, raising ¥11bn ($97m) across three and 10 years tranches.