Nordics

Danish banks say they could replace non-preferred senior debt with preferred senior bonds in the second half of 2020, after Denmark’s national supervisor relaxed minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).

Shares in Cellink, the Swedish maker of 3D printing equipment for the life sciences industry, rose more than 4% on Thursday morning after the company completed a Skr946m ($109.2m) growth capital raising, amid strong investor appetite for exposure to the healthcare sector due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Two agencies were out with dollar mandates on Monday and more public sector borrowers could follow with deals this week as a rise in US Treasury yields boosts demand for SSA dollar bonds.

Kommunalbanken has raised its borrowing requirement for the year back to its initial target as a result of a strong performance in the Norwegian Krone over the summer.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) broke the silence in the SSA market with a Canadian dollar sustainable development bond. The deal shared the market with a dollar trade from Kommuninvest, with both issuers steering clear of the almost dormant euro market.

Private equity firms EQT Partners and Vaaka Partners have offloaded €118.5m of stock in Musti Group, the Finland-based pet store, in an otherwise barren week for block trades in EMEA.

Danish covered bond auction season is underway with Nykredit and Nordea announcing sales. August’s auctions also provide the last opportunity to buy certain 30-year callable bonds, of which one is the largest covered bond ever issued.

Subordinated bond issuance could decline dramatically among Nordic banks following implementation the EU’s new bank recovery and resolution directive (BRRD 2), Fitch said this week.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, July 27. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

This week's scorecard looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made in their 2020 funding programmes in late July.

Swedish Export Credit Corporation kept the public sector new issues market open on Thursday as it came with an opportunistic four year dollar trade on the back of a strong week for dollar borrowers.

Smaller loan loss provisions and high capital ratios have helped Nordic lenders to kick off European bank earnings season in a positive fashion. But analysts are cautious about drawing any conclusions for the rest of the sector.