Santander

Abertis Infraestructuras, the motorways, airports and broadcasting infrastructure group, on Tuesday became the second Spanish company to take advantage of the recent rally in peripheral spreads by issuing a corporate bond.

Sodexo, the French catering, support and care services group, made a rare visit to the bond market on Tuesday and raised €1.1bn at spreads in line with comparable issuers.

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Issuers benefited from ideal market conditions for senior unsecured trades this week, with spreads rocketing inwards following the European Central Bank’s decision to cut rates last week. While the sharpest part of the rally may be over, issuers are expected to enjoy an easy ride for the foreseeable future as syndicate bankers expect spreads to grind even tighter.

Spain dived head first into the enticing liquidity pouring from the European Central Bank and came up dripping with cash this week, but its innovative syndication and two day switch offering combination may well be better remembered for how the ripples affected other sovereigns in the pool rather than the initial splash it made, said bankers. Craig McGlashan reports.

Two issuers from the eurozone’s periphery hit the senior market on Thursday despite a halt in the rally triggered by a rates cut from the European Central Bank last week.

With senior FIG spreads moving tighter following the announcement of rate cuts by the European Central Bank last week, Intesa Sanpaolo was able to benefit from the ensuing hunt for yield on Tuesday to draw a hefty order book. In contrast, Finnish bank Pohjola struggled to tighten pricing on a five year senior print, though the UK’s Bupa benefited from its rarity to breeze through a sterling print.

Banco Santander Totta surprised the market on Tuesday, announcing a mandate and opening books for its second deal this year. Though the transaction had nothing like the oversubscription seen in previous peripheral issuance, the quality of investors in the book was high.

The oil and gas arm of Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht will meet investors from Thursday ahead of a planned 144A/Reg S perpetual bond issue.

UK public transport group FirstGroup has signed an £800m refinancing loan.

Financials shrugged off a short week to print €4.5bn of senior euro debt in just two days, as issuers looked to hit the market ahead of next week’s ECB meeting. The promise of more attractive new issue premiums than in recent weeks helped to buoy the trades, with issuers showing growing willingness to pay up slightly to grab investors’ attention.

Wells Fargo gathered strong interest for a 10 year euro benchmark on Wednesday, investors were attracted to the deal by a healthy outright yield. Santander Consumer Bank decided to hit the other end of the curve, selling two year debt.