Santander

The UK's Imperial Brands, formerly Imperial Tobacco, has signed a new €3.5bn three year multi-currency revolving credit facility, slightly increasing its main bank line, despite not having plans to draw down.

Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer, opened books for a three tranche bond issue on Tuesday, just over a week after raising €15bn from banks, on the assumption, its CFO said then, that there would be "no issuance in capital markets, such as commercial paper".

A string of well rated companies are preparing to issue bonds in the coming days, as syndicate desks are heartened by the continued ample demand from investors. Anheuser-Busch InBev, Volkswagen Financial Services and Thermo Fisher Scientific raised a total of €7.85bn in euros today, despite a rocky market.

Rating: A/A-/Baa1

Confectionery company Néstle, soft drink maker Coca-Cola European Partners and French pharmaceutical company Sanofi piled into Europe's bond market with new issues on Tuesday, suggesting that borrowers are increasingly eager and quick to react when the market shows any signs of stabilising.

European banks are steering well clear of new issue markets during the coronavirus pandemic, avoiding having to call on investors for funding by taking advantage of attractive central bank funding schemes.

The Single Resolution Board found this week that investors in Banco Popular would not have been any better off had they been put through an insolvency rather than a resolution. Creditors and shareholders will therefore not receive any compensation.

ING Groep said on Monday that it would redeem a pair of perpetual capital instruments, including an additional tier one bond, after deciding the move would be in its economic interest.

FIG DCM officials say it is impossible to tell when banks could return to selling unsecured debt, with markets locked in a period of extreme volatility and uncertainty.

A sharp turn in market sentiment following the announcement of a travel ban by the US has destroyed any hopes for a revival in the corporate bond market, sending high grade spreads 25bp wider as borrowers ducked and covered until at least next week.

Once again, corporate bond markets have staged a recovery after a shutdown of several days as asset prices plummeted in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak. Three industrial companies plus JP Morgan issued bonds in the US on Tuesday, which “all went exceptionally well” according to a head of syndicate in London. Danone launched on Wednesday the first euro corporate issue of the week, paying a high spread but small new issue premium.

Deutsche Bank said this week that it will keep its $1.25bn 6.25% additional tier one outstanding beyond its first call date, having become the second European bank to extend the life of an AT1 for economic reasons.