Société Générale

Four new corporate bonds hit the market on Wednesday. In a change from recent days, all the deals were of moderate size and single tranched. Terna, the Italian grid operator, and Banque PSA France were typical in launching €500m no-grow deals. Book sizes diverged strongly, with those two issuers getting heavy oversubscription, while Aroundtown and Voestalpine had much less.

Mauritius Commercial Bank has raised a new dual tranche $800m loan after receiving commitments of over $1bn. The deal was welcomed by bankers as one of the few new money financings in the market.

The European Financial Stability Facility and Council of Europe Development Bank left little on the table with their euro bond issues on Wednesday. More supply is expected, as three more borrowers have picked banks for deals expected this week.

Antoine Broquereau has been appointed as head of global markets UK at Société Générale. He has been tasked with concentrating particularly on equity derivatives and structured products, at a time when the bank has been considering how to streamline its global markets activities.

ABB, the Swiss-Swedish machinery maker, issued an unusual bond on Tuesday: an 18 month floating rate note that grew as large as €1bn.

Elis, the French workwear and laundry group, took advantage of a corporate bond market eager for yieldy paper on Tuesday by issuing a €500m five year high yield bond that found a friendly reception.

Société Générale has appointed a new group country head for Russia, replacing Didier Hauguel, who is stepping down to focus on charity work.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has extended the maturity of its €6.25bn syndicated bank facility, as loan market activity picks up at the beginning of the second quarter.

The Slovak Republic kick-started its 2019 international bond issuance on Tuesday, printing a €1bn 11 year, drawing a book of over €5bn. It paid a “minimal” new issue concession, according to lead managers.

Eager demand for hybrid capital issues, amid an environment of low rates, was on show again on Monday, when LafargeHolcim issued its first big deal of this kind. The pricing was tightened by an exceptional amount during the bookbuild — 69bp.

Following European bond issues by Volkswagen Financial Services, Volvo Car and RCI Banque last week, another car company entered the market on Monday. Toyota Finance Australia issued a two and five year bond that showed the market was very much open for business and full of demand.

Neopost, the French postal equipment maker, is marketing a dual currency Schuldschein, becoming the latest in a run of French firms to enter the market.