Spain

Spanish telecoms company Telefónica on Monday launched the first green bond in euros from the telecoms sector. The firm, rated as one of Spain’s leading companies in the fight against climate change, published its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework in November but had to wait two months to sell its first green bond.

Rating: Baa1/A-/A-

Wider euro spreads versus swaps and Bunds had already led to some superstrong trades in the currency this year, but Spain outdid them all this week with the largest ever book for a public sector euro benchmark. Every other euro deal also attracted heavy oversubscription with minimal concession, paving the way for expected supply next week from a “large German agency in the short end” and a “central European sovereign in 10 years”, according to one head of SSA syndicate.

Spain came to market on Tuesday, printing its traditional January 10 year euro benchmark and receiving an overwhelming level of demand.

Leveraged finance markets in Europe are looking up, and bankers expect they may even see some deals priced before long.

Spain mandated banks on Monday for its first syndicated bond of the year, as it looks to replicate the success of other eurozone sovereign syndications so far in 2019.

Maintaining confidence in the system relies on trust that leaders — those selected for their competence and character to set the course for the rest of us — are well informed, able to communicate with others at their level and take decisions that serve the interests of those they lead.

Zegona, the London-listed investment fund focused on telecoms, media and technology assets, has raised £100.5m ($130m) of fresh capital to fund a stake build in Euskaltel, the Spanish telecommunications company.

Guarantor: Kingdom of Spain

Credito Emiliano this week issued the first Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite of the year, sending a strong signal to issuers struggling to fund in the senior market. The Italian bank followed Deutsche Bank SA which issued the first Spanish deal of 2019.

The public sector euro market’s thundering start to the year stayed noisy on Thursday as a quartet of smaller issuers from across the continent printed oversubscribed deals.

Small benchmark covered bond deals issued on Wednesday by Deutsche Bank’s Spanish subsidiary and UniCredit’s Austrian subsidiary were slow to build and priced in line with initial guidance. This led some to question whether this was due to a degree of unease with their parent groups or whether investors baulked at the pricing process.