Nordics

SEB offered investors a negative new issue premium with its preferred senior deal on Monday. With conditions consistently improving for European issuers, this deal has shown that the market is ripe for issuance in the format.

The Norges Bank surprised the market with an unexpected base rate cut to a record low of zero on Thursday. Since the start of the year, coronavirus volatility and wildly gyrating oil prices have buffeted the value of the kroner.

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

Issuance in the financial institutions bond market had a preferred senior flavour this week, with issuers finding this the most cost-effective funding compared with other asset classes. In addition, some of them can use it to fulfil regulatory requirements.

Rating: A2/A+/A

Equinor, the petroleum refining company, sold the last of its shares in oil and gas exploration firm Lundin Energy in a Skr3.3bn ($335m) block trade on Tuesday evening.

The Danish covered bond market is expected to maintain its exemplary performance with smooth execution likely in the quarterly auctions due to commence next week, a local banker told GlobalCapital on Wednesday.

Nordea Bank and Erste Group Bank were marketing preferred senior bonds on Wednesday, finding demand in the seven year part of the curve following a flurry of five year deals earlier this week.

SBAB Bank found plenty of room to tighten the pricing on a new preferred senior deal in euros on Wednesday, after investors welcomed the trade’s green credentials.

Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Finland has found a novel way to meet its increased funding needs: private placements. Over the last six weeks, the sovereign has supplemented its regular auctions with €5.65bn of privately placed trades, issuing private debt off its benchmark bond programme for the first time ever.

Danske Bank was marketing a preferred senior bond on Tuesday, taking swift advantage of recent changes in Denmark that will allow banks to use these instruments to count towards their regulatory debt requirements.

Pandora, the Danish jewellery manufacturer, has raised Dkr1.8bn ($176m) through an accelerated placing of 8m treasury shares on Tuesday, to give it funds to withstand the damage to its business caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The company had recently repurchased the shares used in the placing through a buy-back scheme.