Poland

Poland’s domestic bond market is not as big as participants would like it to be. It needs standardised documentation, they say, along with more ratings and the adoption of transparent, fixed rate coupons. Philip Moore reports.

Polish GDP impressed in the first quarter of 2018, growing 5.2% year-on-year, up from the 5.1% estimated, driven by higher consumption and investment in infrastructure co-financed by EU funds. Ukrainian migrants have also boosted GDP. But with proposed cuts to EU funding set to hit Poland hardest — at a cost of 1% of GDP a year from 2021, according to some estimates — the outlook is not so rosy. Virginia Furness reports.

The Republic of Poland has proved itself to be one of the most prudent and innovative borrowers in central and eastern Europe, leaving it well placed to navigate increasing volatility in global rates, while some less prepared issuers may run into funding difficulties. Virginia Furness reports.

When Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook on Poland to positive in April, it was the latest in a series of welcome surprises. The economy has grown faster than most analysts expected, leading several of them to upgrade their forecasts for growth in 2018. In the capital market, meanwhile, it was Poland, rather than any of the core eurozone economies, that became the first sovereign in the green bond market. What next for Poland’s vibrant economy and capital market? Participants answering this question in the GlobalCapital Poland roundtable, which took place in London in early June, were:

EPP, a Polish real estate investment company, postponed its five year euro bond on Monday despite having gone as far as to set the yield for the deal. The company blamed adverse market conditions, while bankers away from the deal were divided as to whether anything could or should have been done differently by the leads.

Unrealistic pricing expectations are keeping two EM corporate issuers by the wayside after volatile markets forced Atrium to cancel a tender offer combined with a new issue last week.

EPP, a Polish real estate investor specialising in shopping malls, has mandated banks for a euro bond, joining Atrium European Real Estate in the rush to issue the first non-financial corporate bond from CEE since early May.

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), Poland's state development bank, printed its dual tranche euro bond on Wednesday in a tough market that allowed for no tightening from initial price guidance and book that was only just covered.

Polish financial institution mBank has returned to the Swiss franc bond market. Like many sold in the past few weeks, the bonds were priced at the wider end of guidance — a sign that the market is returning to more conventional spread levels, and investors are expecting higher returns.

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), Poland's state development bank, has set the reoffer spreads for its seven and 12 year euro bonds. Combined books are in excess of €800m, evenly split between the tranches.

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, the State Development Bank of the Republic of Poland, is marketing a dual tranche euro bond.

JP Morgan's launch of an environmentally and socially conscious version of its EMBI index is well timed, as fund managers realise that dodgy morals can lead to shabby financial statements.