Norway

Sparebank 1 SMN is ready to become the first Norwegian issuer of senior unsecured debt that complies with the green bond principles. Other banks, after issuing green unsecured deals are expected to issue green covered bonds.

Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt opened books on the first covered bond of the week on Wednesday and managed to issue its largest ever deal with no new issue concession.

Conditions for public sector dollar issuers held firm this week after an excellent start to the year, although deals were thinner on the ground thanks to a US Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Chinese New Year holidays next week will give the sector a much needed breather — after which three-years might move more into vogue than fives, said SSA bankers.

Rating: Aaa/AAA

The covered bond market looked well supported on Wednesday as Sparebank Soer Boligkreditt issued the most highly oversubscribed deal of the year, which was priced flat to its curve. With all new issues tightening bankers are hopeful that Italian and Greek supply could soon follow.

Kommunalbanken took advantage of being the sole SSA issuer in dollars on Tuesday as it was more than twice subscribed and tightened pricing on its first dollar benchmark of the year. Concerns over volatility from this week’s US Federal Open Market Committee meeting and non-farm payrolls kept some other issuers on the sidelines, said SSA bankers — although two are braving Wednesday’s market.

Shares in Norwegian Air Shuttle, the Norwegian budget airline, fell 25% on Tuesday after the company announced an Nkr3bn (€308m) rights offer to avoid breaking its financial covenants following widening losses and an abandoned takeover attempt by IAG.

Sparebank Soer Boligkreditt has mandated leads for a covered bond and taken advantage of demand identified in the previous three Norwegian deals issued so far this year.

Investors are returning to the covered bond, sovereign and supranational agency (SSA) markets in their droves. Despite exceptionally heavy issuance, the startling breadth and depth of demand seen in many deals this week caught market participants off guard — not least the investors themselves. Bill Thornhill reports.

Four covered bond issuers returned to the market on Wednesday and, in contrast to the start of the year when concessions were 5bp-7bp, none paid more than 2bp.

Banca Monte Dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec (FCDQ), SpareBank 1 Boligkreditt (Spabol) and DZ Bank have announced plans to issue covered bond benchmarks on Wednesday when the market is expected to be just as busy as it was on Tuesday.

Euronext on Monday formally launched its offer to buy Norwegian exchange group Oslo Børs VPS, saying it wanted to position the firm as the “key capital markets hub in the Nordic region”.