Nordics

A trio of SSAs made the most of low yields in Danish kroner and Swedish kronor to print paper with coupons hovering around zero this week.

Saxo Bank has announced plans to sell its first tier two bond, outlining its expectations for pricing before opening the order books.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken did not have to pay a new issue premium amid favourable market conditions on Monday, after offering investors the chance to buy a new preferred senior bond.

Three Nordic banks and one British bank placed paper in Swedish krona this week. NatWest Markets made its debut in the currency, while Scandinavian-based Avida Finans printed its first AT1. Avida Finans plans to follow this debut AT1 with a future stock exchange listing.

SSA issuers are increasingly looking towards the Norwegian krone market as a hawkish Norges Bank, against the tide, raises rates. The European Investment Bank in particular has sharply increased its Nokkie issuance this year.

Issuance in Swedish kronor picked up this week, with three corporate issuers placing Skr6.28bn ($667.9m) across four private placements, as issuers looked to get in ahead of the midsummer break. In euros, a Dutch and French agency both placed paper, while protests in Hong Kong caused yields to spike in offshore Chinese renminbi and Hong Kong dollars.

Volkswagen surprised the equity capital markets on Friday by setting a range on the IPO of its trucks division, Traton, a few days earlier than most in the market had expected. But the deal has already gained strong investor interest.

Iceland returned to the euro market on Thursday, bringing a €500m five year issue in its first outing since December 2017.

The Inter-American Development Bank this week capitalised on a dearth of supply at the 10 year point of the curve to print its second dollar benchmark of the year.

Chinese automobile conglomerate Geely has used an exchangeable bond to monetise the volatility of its stake in AB Volvo, the Swedish maker of heavy-duty vehicles, to secure €400m of funding at a zero coupon.

Commerzbank, Jyske Bank and UBI Banca all issued €500m senior non-preferred bonds with five year maturities on Thursday. But Jyske opted for a more flexible and efficient note, callable four years after its issuance date.

There was high demand for dollar SSA paper as Kommunalbanken (KBN) printed at its tightest ever spread against the US Treasuries on Wednesday. Meanwhile the Province of Ontario has mandated for its own benchmark transaction.