Nordics

Kommunekredit, Kommunalbanken (KBN) and World Bank hit screens for dollar deals on Monday, as bankers said that this week offers a decent window for issuance in the US currency.

Nordea managed to raise €1.5bn of seven year funding at 4bp over mid-swaps on Monday — the tightest spread of any covered bond issued this year, other than in Germany. But subscription ratios for core covered bonds are falling and some key investors are lowering their orders.

Taps in Oceanic currencies flowed freely this week as two supranationals raised funds in the Kangaroo and Kauri markets.

Trustpilot, the Danish independent review platform, has completed its series E equity funding round, raising $55m to finance investment in marketing and its technology platform.

Finland is unlikely to join the growing band of sovereign green bond issuers, after the head of its treasury’s finance division said that adding the format to its funding mix “would not help the liquidity of our nominal benchmark bonds”.

Lars Jebjerg, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Danish Ship Finance, which is marketing its inaugural covered bond, talks to GlobalCapital about the bank’s distinctive business model, which has delivered stability amid the notorious volatility in underlying assets, which has sunk many lenders.

Jyske Realkredits sold a six year covered bond at a level that was flat to its existing curve on Tuesday, with an subscription ratio that was higher than any other Danish euro covered bond ever issued.

Nokia had much to be thankful for on Monday when it issued a €750m seven year bond at 170bp over mid-swaps — the same level at which its older five year bond was trading at the beginning of this year.

Danske Bank has turned to the Norwegian krone market to raise non-preferred senior debt, following closely behind a recent transaction in euros.

Jyske Realkredit has mandated leads for the first Danish covered bond of the year. The transaction joins the pipeline alongside two other sub-benchmark deals, this time from Finnish lenders.

Danish Ship Finance plans to go on the road before issuing its debut euro covered bond.

Covered bonds issued by Intesa Sanpaolo, Axa Bank and Aktia on Tuesday “flew out the door”, according to leads, with the depth and breadth of demand surpassing expectations. The superb conditions may not last, but exuberance is expected to prevail for now.