Norway

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.

Ulf Erlandsson, the well known green bond investor, and Knut Kjaer, founding CEO of the $1tr Norwegian oil fund, are exploring starting a new investment strategy called Diem Green Credit.

This week's scorecard looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made in their 2019 funding programmes.

The recent redemption of a Norwegian government bond has led to an increase in Nordic currency issuance this week, according to one MTN banker. The European Investment Bank and KfW tapped these released funds to raise a combined Nkr1.5bn ($171.2m).

Santander UK, Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt (Spabol) and Erste Group were able to price flat or through their covered bond curves on Tuesday after stoking up hefty demand for their new issues.

This week's scorecard looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made in their 2019 funding programmes.

Issuers and syndicate desks were split over whether the African Development Bank’s inaugural Norwegian krone bond — the first ever social bond in the Norwegian market — could pave the way for further social issuance in the sector.

Adevinta, the online classified advertising division of Schibsted, shone in the aftermarket on Wednesday after the company began trading on the Oslo Børs following its Nkr2.87bn (€298m) IPO.

The IPO of Adevinta, the online classified advertising division of Norwegian media group Schibsted, is oversubscribed throughout the revised price range on the penultimate day of the bookbuilding, according to two sources close to the deal.

Kommunalbanken announced its funding plans for the second quarter this week. KBN has plans to issue another two benchmark transactions this year, with a focus on the three to ten year tenure.

Norway’s DNB Bank on Tuesday broke a record for the tightest pricing in preferred senior format so far this year, finding strong demand for a new transaction, despite market concerns about money laundering among Nordic financial institutions.

Adevinta, the online classified advertising division of Norwegian media group Schibsted, has set the price range for its IPO on the Oslo Børs, which may value the company at up to Nkr55.8bn (€5.8bn) if the deal is priced at the top of the range.