Pre-migration untagged articles

The UAE emirate of Ras al-Khaimah (A/A) will price its debut five year dollar denominated sukuk benchmark on Wednesday or Thursday through BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered. The deal is expected to be around $1bn in size and pricing is likely to be competitive given the trail-blazing transactions of its wealthier peer Abu Dhabi, and other top-quality Gulf credits, said bankers. Read EuroWeek on Friday for full details.

Investors have backed the latest round of rights issues by European businesses, ensuring a 96% take-up for the Eu359m capital increase by navigation device maker TomTom. Meanwhile, the Nkr4.5bn rights issue for Norway’s Renewable Energy Corp was covered 1.6 times. Results for the Sfr2.1bn deal by Swiss cement maker Holcim are expected for early next week but shares are trading at a premium, making a high take-up likely. Turn to EuroWeek on Friday for an update on all European ECM transactions.

Struggling UK consumer credit group Cattles got a reprieve from lenders this week after its banks agreed to extend a £500m loan until December. But, after missing a coupon payment on a bond last week and breaching its loan covenants in March, the company still has a long way to go to reach a restructuring agreement. It is also still trying to come to a standstill agreement for its subsidiary, Welcome Financial Services. Read EuroWeek on Friday for more on this deal and others companies going through similar discussions with lenders.

Crédit Agricole put an end to weeks of speculation that it was preparing to launch a new issue by pricing a Eu1.25bn five year benchmark at 72bp over mid-swaps on Thursday.

Covered bond investors and bankers were left breathless this week as issuer after issuer raced through the jumbo market and took away funding on their own terms in the week when the European Central Bank’s Eu60bn purchase programme began.

Turkish liras and Norwegian kroner dominated niche market activity this week. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken tapped a May 2017 European Investment Bank bond for Nkr300m ($46m) last Friday (July 3) and on Monday RBC tapped the EIB’s May 2014s for Nkr350m.

Dealers of private EMTNs: Non-syndicated deals for less than $250m excluding financial repackaged SPVs, GSE issuers, self-led deals and issues with a term of less than 365 days.

Banco BPI sold the first Portuguese covered bond benchmark since July 2008 on Wednesday, a Eu1bn three year issue that was priced at 97bp over mid-swaps. Caixa Geral de Depósitos swiftly followed with its public sector covered bond debut a day later.

Fitch on Tuesday published the new criteria it will use to assess liquidity risks in covered bonds, completing a review process that was announced in March.