Santander

Investors clamoured for the chance to pick up senior paper in an undersupplied sterling market this week, with order books swelling for Abbey National Treasury Service’s first deal in the currency in 2015. Low euro yields are encouraging both domestic and international investors to look at opportunities in sterling, according to syndicate bankers.

Smurfit Kappa Group, the Irish packaging group, priced a €250m 10 year high yield bond on Wednesday evening that found solid demand, after announcing higher earnings and revenue for 2014.

Shares in Aena, the largest airport operator in the world by transit numbers, shot up 20.6% on Wednesday when they began trading in Madrid, as investors, many of them dissatisfied with their shrunken IPO allocations, scrambled for shares in the aftermarket. The shares climbed another 5% on Thursday morning, before sliding back to close at the same level as Wednesday night.

Shares in Aena, the Spanish state-owned airport operator, will begin trading tomorrow in Madrid, after their successful pricing today at the very top of an already raised price range.

The Spanish government is set to price its privatisation of Aena, the state airport operator, this evening. The flotation of a 49% stake has attracted strong demand and looks set to be a big win for the government, potentially netting it up to €4.26bn.

Electricity Supply Board, the Irish power company, has amended and extended a €1.44bn loan facility with Intesa Sanpaolo and Santander joining the syndicate for the first time.

Banque PSA Finance, the finance arm of Peugeot and Citroën, has signed a new €700m loan and repaid €7.3bn of facilities as part of its new joint venture with Santander Consumer Finance, which covers the French and UK markets.

London-listed book publisher the Quarto Group has refinanced a $95m four year loan. The deal comprises a revolving credit facility and term loan.

Redes Energeticas Nacionais, the Portuguese electricity and gas transmission operator, extended its bond curve by five years on Thursday with a €300m 10 year issue, getting strong demand as spreads tightened sharply.

Isolux Corsán, the Spanish energy and construction firm, pulled its €600m IPO on January 29, in the first blow to what has been Europe’s strongest ECM region so far this year.

Santander was able to benefit from a strong bid for paper from the eurozone’s periphery this week, drawing a strong order book for a deal through its Santander Consumer Finance Subsidiary — bankers pointed to a more reassuring political situation in Greece as a reason to expect more deals from the region in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Nordea was also able to appeal to investors with the first Scandinavian senior print of 2015.

The rally in government bonds since the European Central Bank announced its sovereign quantitative easing programme at the end of January has restored relative value in core European covered bonds. Though yields remain low, BPCE and Belfius Bank this week issued benchmark deals that enjoyed exceptionally good demand that was boosted by the return of real money rates investors to covered bonds.