South America

The province of Córdoba sold a five times oversubscribed 7.5 year bond on Wednesday to suggest that plenty of appetite for Argentine paper remained — even if it is growing ever more picky about credit quality.

Central Argentine province Córdoba sold $510m of 7.5 year bonds on Wednesday, using proceeds to refinance existing bonds and significantly lower its funding costs.

Argentine province Córdoba is set to continue the seemingly never ending run of sub-sovereign issuance from Latin America’s third largest economy as it sought seven year money on Wednesday.

Argentine credit card company Tarjeta Naranja will look to issue international bonds for the first time after approving a bond sale of up to $300m.

Argentine province La Rioja may have had to settle for a wider yield than some expected on its bond debut on Thursday, but a promising aftermarket performance provided some hope for the shrinking number of provinces yet to issue.

Latin American new issue markets are in for a quiet period, said DCM bankers, though Argentina continues to throw up new borrowers.

The Argentine province, La Rioja, was looking strong reception after releasing initial price thoughts of 10% for a planned eight year (6.5 year average life) bond on Tuesday, despite some investors expressing their fatigue at the number of Argentine provincial issuers to have brought deals.

S&P’s upgrade of Brazilian oil giant Petrobras could attract more investors into the company’s curve, according to Lat Am market participants.

Brazilian oil giant Petrobras has wrapped up a tender offer that ended up far larger than planned, after bondholders owning $5.57bn of paper agreed to sell their notes.

Privately held power generation company Stoneway Capital Corporation, which includes Siemens among its partners, sold $500m of 10 year bonds at a yield of 10% on Friday.

Bad weather in New York left trading volumes in Latin American bond markets low on Thursday, and Lat Am primary may also now find activity cooling despite a seemingly relentless wave of Argentine borrowers looking to tap the market.

Argentina’s largest province, Buenos Aires (PBA), saw its bonds trade up the day after it raised $1.5bn of five and 10 year bonds.