South America

Brazilian steel producer CSN and Mexican building materials company Cemex continued a storming week for Latin American high yield issuance with new deals that attracted bumper orders and priced tight to bankers’ expectations — even if comparable deals were not always clear cut.

Brazilian government-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras took advantage of a buoyant market on Wednesday to clean up the long end of its curve, shrugging off political concerns with a new 30 year bond that came well inside fair value and left no doubt about the quality of funding conditions for Latin American issuers.

Brazilian oil and gas company PetroRio accessed bond markets on Wednesday just eight months after it pulled an earlier deal, with observers crediting the company’s success to an improved credit profile, enhanced note structure, higher oil prices and better bond market conditions.

Moody’s has placed Peruvian miner Compañía de Minas Buenaventura’s B1 rating on review for downgrade, just as the company prepares a debut bond issue to repay a tax liability that has sharply increased its debt.

Latin American bond bankers expect several new deals to be announced after the May 31 Memorial Day holiday in the US, as borrowers look to get ahead of potential noise regarding the Federal Reserve tapering its policy stimulus. But investors appeared ambivalent this week about the prospect of a wave of new supply.

Chile, Peru and Colombia — previously hailed by EM investors for orthodox economic policymaking — are under pressure amid social unrest and political polarisation. But as the upheaval whirls around them, their credit in the bank with bondholders, after years of impressive debt management, is a major asset.

A majority of shareholders of Peruvian mining company Compañía de Minas Buenaventura have approved a motion to allow the company to sell up to $550m of bonds as it looks to finance a retroactive tax liability.

Political volatility continues to take its toll on the credit ratings of Latin America’s strongest sovereigns, with Peru the latest to suffer a negative outlook as Moody’s predicted the next government will likely face a continuation of the political gridlock that has hampered economic activity over the last four years.

Official and multilateral lenders are taking a lenient stance on perennial defaulter Argentina but bond investors are increasingly sceptical whether the IMF programme that the sovereign says it wants will turn its fiscal position around. Markets are pricing in another default within a few years, despite a rebound in bonds this week, while eccentric policy decisions continue to frustrate bondholders.

Colombia’s credit rating was finally downgraded to sub-investment grade on Wednesday evening, as many had expected it to be. But it was Standard & Poor’s — not Fitch, as most had anticipated — that moved first.

Peruvian mining company Minsur, which will shortly begin operations at a copper project that almost triples its previous size, has signed a loan with two international banks to finance a buy-back of old bonds. The liability management exercise comes as the leading candidate in Peru’s presidential elections said he wanted to raise taxes and royalties on the mining sector, and nationalise the country’s wealth.

Argentine sovereign bonds rallied for a third consecutive day on Tuesday amid expectations that the Paris Club group of official creditors will show leniency over a looming $2.4bn payment. But some in the market saw more value in the country's provincial bonds, and the Province of Buenos Aires hinted after the close that it is edging closer to agreement with its bondholders after more than a year in default.