Société Générale

CGG sold its first high yield bond in euros on Wednesday. The French geosciences business, formerly CGGVeritas, increased its deal from €360m to €400m and priced it inside guidance with a 5.875% coupon.

Financial issuers highlighted strong demand for floating rate paper this week, with syndicate bankers expecting issuance to pick up again after the Easter break. Issuers are proving keen to save on funding costs while investors are happy to pick up protection against the possibility of rising rates.

Groupe Auchan, the French supermarket chain, launched its first bond of the year on Tuesday, into an empty European corporate bond market. Despite the dark clouds massing over Ukraine, there was strong demand and the issuer hit its size and pricing targets.

Société Générale returned to the covered bond market on Tuesday after a four month absence to issue the sixth French covered bond deal of the year and the third from France with a 10 year maturity. By limiting the deal size, leads were able to price flat to its curve, and with barely any premium to the French government.

Investors snapped up a pair of tightly priced benchmarks from public sector issuers this week — setting up for promising issuance conditions when their funding officials return to the office after the Easter break.

Snam, the Italian gas transport network, found very strong demand on Wednesday for a €500m bond issue, as investors ignored the threat of war between Russia and Ukraine and piled into West European corporate credit.

Industrial coatings firms Ring International Holding and Helios Domzale have refinanced €150m of senior loans after completing their merger earlier this month.

Strong demand for a pair of benchmarks, plus Italy’s latest BTP Italia, in what is typically a quiet week in the lead up to Easter holidays, has issuance conditions looking promising for sovereign, supranational and agency borrowers when the market re-opens next week.

Investors should sell one-month US dollar, Malaysian ringgit non deliverable forwards at 3.253 and buy USD, Korean won one-month NDFs at 1043.5 in a bid to play MYR’s recovery against KRW.

MTN desks are taking part in a fierce battle of east versus west. They aren’t talking about schools of philosophy, but something more important— where in London to live and more importantly what that says about their age.

Wells Fargo and Macquarie Bank highlighted the demand for floating rate paper on Tuesday, with both banks selling euro denominated FRNs. Syndicate officials away from the deal said that the deals are likely to be the last senior trades from banks ahead of the Easter break.

The late week recovery in the FIG market continued on Friday, with La Banque Postale drawing strong interest for its tier two capital bond.