South America

Four Latin American corporates priced a total of $3bn of new debt on Thursday, as investors said they were grateful for the chance to get their hands on new paper but not overly enthused about the yields on offer.

The CFO of Brazilian railroad operator Rumo told GlobalCapital that improvements in the company’s credit metrics allowed it to successfully issue in dollars on Wednesday, despite the issuer not guaranteeing the bonds with its main operating company as it had for its previous deal.

Mexican non-bank lender Unifin Financiera is plotting a subordinated perpetual deal, according to bond market sources, after Peru’s Interbank became the latest Latin American financial name to issue on Wednesday.

Brazilian railroad operator Rumo clinched its second dollar bond on Wednesday, offering a pick-up to its previous deal and building a hefty order book in the process.

Peruvian lender Interbank (Banco Internacional del Perú) is planning to raise $200m of new five year debt on Wednesday to become the first Peruvian borrower in the bond markets in 2018.

Hidrovias do Brasil, the Brazilian waterway logistics provider, will begin meeting investors on Wednesday as it plans a debut international bond sale.

Brazilian logistics firm JSL returned to dollar markets on Monday to tap the 7.75% July 2024 notes it sold in its debut deal in July last year.

After Latin American issuers burst into the market in the first week of the year for the first time ever, Brazilian meatpacker Marfrig became the fifth company from the region to announce a roadshow and keep up primary market momentum.

Below-freezing temperatures in New York that left several EM bond market participants working from home on Thursday could not stop Latin American borrowers from bringing early heat to 2018.

Two Brazilian companies could tap international bond markets as soon as next week after announcing fixed income investor meetings.

Emerging market bond fund managers say they are markedly more optimistic than 12 months ago when the "whole world was negative" after the start of Donald Trump’s US presidential term. And with plenty of sovereign trades rumoured for January, there is an abundance of investment opportunities.

After a record 2017, Latin America bond markets had a quiet start to 2018 on Tuesday but syndicate bankers covering the region said that they had a hefty pipeline and would start bringing deals as soon as possible.