Search results for

Italy may be holding the eurozone’s only major election in 2018 but the vote is causing little concern for bond investors, with a backdrop of solid growth and a new electoral law likely to keep fringe parties from wining outright power. While the improving economic outlook is generally good news, it does raise potential political challenges of its own — although the sovereign is confident enough about 2018 that it is planning to tap the dollar market for the first time in eight years, writes Craig McGlashan.

Italy’s retail bond market is going through a profound shake-up in which alternative investments are set to replace bank bonds among the securities of choice for Italian households. Tyler Davies reports.

A pair of euro borrowers braved a tricky market on Tuesday, raising a combined €4bn despite heavy weather in government spreads. One opted for a defensive pricing strategy, while the other attempted to squeeze investors.

Italy’s economy, like those of its European neighbours, is showing encouraging signs of consistently strong growth. But how much of it should Italy take credit for — and how much is down to the broader improvements in Europe? Has Italy made the most of improving economic conditions and central bank support to enact enough reforms to escape its unwanted tradition of growing more slowly than other economies in the good times and shrinking further in the bad times? Ignazio Visco, governor of the Bank of Italy, answered these questions and many more in an interview with GlobalCapital’s Toby Fildes.

Contrary to expectations, the fall of Matteo Renzi has not slowed down Italy’s reform drive. Admittedly, much of the recent progress started under his leadership and even before it, but the country’s continued commitment to economic reform under the Gentiloni administration has been warmly welcomed by economists and investors. The next big test will be a general election in March. By Philip Moore.

If Italy is decisively to address the persistent challenges presented by its low growth, poor productivity, elevated debt, high unemployment and weak financial services industry, then CDP will need to play a pivotal role in mobilising over €250bn of resources. Philip Moore reports.

Ask people to name the centres for capital markets in Europe and most will probably pick London, Frankfurt and perhaps Paris. But Milan will not be on many people’s shortlist, at least not outside Italy. But that may be about to change as a series of major transactions on the city’s stock exchange has shone a spotlight on a growing trend that could point to a boost to the eurozone economy’s growth outlook. By Phil Thornton

After a year of predictions that a bear market is coming off the back of monetary policy normalisation, people shouldn’t be surprised that investors are a little jumpy.

HICL Infrastructure Co, the UK infrastructure fund advised by InfraRed Capital Partners, has refinanced its £400m ($556m) revolving credit facility and managed to negotiate cheaper funding from its banking group.

Italy’s growth trajectory, at around 1.5%, may look modest in comparison to the 2.3% growth that UniCredit is projecting for the eurozone as a whole in 2018 and 2019 but by Italian standards, it represents an encouraging advance, given that the root cause of so many of Italy’s problems is its chronic lack of growth. Philip Moore reports.

Cyclical or structural? This is a question which I have often been asked about Italy’s economic recovery. Italy began showing some first signs of recovery in 2014, a year in which Italy posted a 0.1% increase in GDP after a double-dip recession between 2009-2013 which led to a 10% drop in the country’s output. In the following years the recovery grew stronger and now the economy is growing at a rate similar to that of other euro-area countries.

NordLB attracted a strong order book and paid little new issue premium for its first dollar covered bond — also the first dollar covered bond of 2018 — a defensive three year dollar Reg S Lettres de Gage publiques.