South America

Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) is planning to issue its first public green bond this year, after kicking off its 2019 funding with a euro benchmark and announcing plans to meet US investors next week.

Bond investors and analysts warned on Wednesday that there was still deep uncertainty in store for Venezuelan bondholders even if market hopes materialise and Nicolás Maduro is soon to leave the presidency. Moreover, not everyone thinks his imminent exit is a given.

South American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) had its first outing in bond markets on Wednesday with a new euro benchmark as it took advantage of a favourable euro/dollars basis swap.

Colombia jumped on a turnaround in sentiment on Wednesday to become the third Latin American sovereign in just over a week to receive strong demand for dollar paper.

Colombian corporates have become rare treats for bond investors but investors were able to feast on a high yield debut issuer from the country on Wednesday to give an unusual start to the Latin American corporate primary market for the year.

Investors were eager to point out that the keen sense of anticipation over regime change in Venezuela hides a reality fraught with uncertainty. But as chaos grips the country, bondholders spy long-term opportunities. Oliver West reports.

The end of the long weekend brought back the return of a weaker tone in bond markets on Tuesday as Latin American primary markets were silent despite bankers boasting of a reasonable pipeline.

Fishmeal producer Pesquera Exalmar has become the latest Peruvian corporate to opt for alternative sources of funding to refinance bonds after it used a syndicated loan to redeem its outstanding 2020s

Brazilian building materials company Votorantim Cimentos is looking to buy back up to $650m of outstanding bonds using funds that its parent company is set to receive from the sale of its stake in pulp and paper company Fibria.

Uruguay said that the government had covered nearly all of its debt maturities for 2019 after the sovereign became the first issuer from Latin America to tap international bond markets this year.

If any of Latin America’s larger sovereigns spent the first half of January lingering on the sidelines not wanting to pay up for being the region’s first issuer in 2019, their angst was misplaced.

Brazilian building materials company Votorantim Cimentos is looking to buy back up to $650m of outstanding bonds using funds that its parent company is set to receive from the sale of pulp and paper company Fibria, due to go through on January 14.