Portugal

Portuguese covered bonds have held steady after Moody’s upgraded the sovereign rating to investment grade rating. Given the market’s poor liquidity, new issuance is likely to play a more pivotal role in determining the spread outlook than the sovereign's credit rating.

Sonae MC, the largest Portuguese food retailer in Portugal, joined the list of IPOs felled by volatile markets this week, but the IPO market had some positive news on Friday as Knorr Bremse traded up.

One of Europe’s major electricity producers, Portugal’s EDP, sold its first green bond on Tuesday, aligning its fundraising with the company’s green principles. Meanwhile, Dutch airport owner and operator Royal Schiphol Group announced plans for its debut green bond. Both followed French vehicle leasing company ALD’s inaugural green bond.

One of Europe’s major electricity producers, Portugal’s EDP sold its first green bond on Tuesday, aligning its fundraising with the company’s green principles.

Sonae MC, the largest food retailers in Portugal, has launched the roadshow for a €300m plus IPO in Lisbon.

Italy’s latest political drama is making investors nervous, and rightly so — when the leader of a country’s main governing party accuses European leaders of market ‘terrorism’, in the vein of an ‘EU equals the USSR’ conspiracy theorist, then you’d be right to dump its bonds. But the steadiness of Spanish and Portuguese govvies through all this shows not only that the term ‘eurozone periphery’ may have to be consigned to the historical dustbin, but that the firewalls erected by those same European leaders after the last sovereign debt crisis are standing firm.

The bumper IPO of Cepsa is likely going to give investors something different to look at when the market reopens in September with investors already excited by a number of new listings.

Portugal will need to disclose more information about its finances to proceed with its planned Panda bond issuance in China, according to a document published on the regulator’s website but later pulled.

WiZink Bank sold its buyout payment-in-kind (PIK) bonds in the euro high yield market this week, a rare opportunity for high yield investors given the slim volumes from the financial sector and Iberian issuers this year.

Portuguese insurance firm Fidelidade is looking to raise tier two capital. It is the latest in a line of less familiar issuers in the sector.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group came to the market on Tuesday with a senior deal that it originally announced in May. Meanwhile, Investec and Fidelidade were consulting on subordinated deals.

Portugal’s planned Panda bond is “being finalised” and the sovereign is “looking closely” at the green bond market, according to the country’s minister of finance.