Nordics

KommuneKredit

Lloyds issued the first sterling covered bond of the year and was quickly followed by two overseas issuers who priced deals at successively wider levels.

Eleven covered bonds were priced in the first week of 2016 despite the onset of European holidays and US non-farm payroll data.

Serendex Pharmaceuticals, the Danish healthcare company, has completed its Nkr111.8m ($12.5m) rights issue, having achieved full subscription.

Last year’s difficult dollar conditions looked firmly in the past on Tuesday as a pair of issuers tapped different parts of the curve for big deals — and other issuers readied themselves for trades.

Norwegian shipping company Havila has conducted a restructuring of its debt after operating cashflows dwindled in the second half of 2015.

Huhtamaki, the Finnish food and drink packaging maker, has refinanced a €400m revolving credit facility and extended the tenor by a year.

Another foreign issuer has joined the German Schuldschein market, as Sweden's Saab signs its first ever deal. It was arranged by two non-German banks.

Finnish pulp and paper maker Stora Enso has tightened margins again on its €700m revolving credit facility, this time by 20bp, after having already reduced margins on the deal by 35bp two years ago.

SSA issuers are readying themselves for a busy 2016 after the Fed eased the markets into a higher rates environment on Thursday.

Norway listed shipping companies Frontline and Nordic American Tankers closed their respective refinancing deals on Thursday. They joined a wave of the region’s borrowers seeking to close deals ahead of the holiday season.

Loans are the last bastion of European corporate finance activity, as the rest of the market falls to Federal Reserve trepidation. But the right message from the Fed could open the door for small, opportunistic trades.