Spain

Santander said on Tuesday that it expected its net profit for the first half of 2017 would be up 24% compared with last year, before considering its recent purchase of Banco Popular.

UBI Banca, the Italian bank, completed its €400m rights issue on Friday June 30, when the tiny rump of 6.7m rights, not subscribed for during the subscription period, were all sold on the stockmarket in the first few minutes they were offered.

Instituto de Crédito Oficial sold its third social bond on Monday, printing €500m of four year paper with what bankers on the trade said was a skinny new issue premium.

Rating: Baa2/BBB+/BBB+

Public sector bankers have backed claims by Greece’s finance minister that the country could return to the capital markets this year “with or without QE”. The fact that another periphery sovereign, Spain, was able to print a stellar trade on Tuesday despite comments by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi sending markets in a tizzy about the possible end of QE further bolstered the statement, bankers added. Craig McGlashan reports.

Spanish lender Unicaja Banco got its €687.5m IPO over the line on Thursday, helped by a strong showing from US funds and rising confidence in European financials.

A €179.4m loan to support Chinese company Aier Eye Hospital Group’s acquisition of Spanish firm Clinica Baviera has entered syndication with three banks at the helm. The deal is another example of Mainland firms’ eagerness to expand overseas, which is in turn giving the country’s lenders with similar ambitions a leg-up as they venture into relatively unexplored markets. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

So far this week, euro corporate bond investors have had to choose between three tranches from an individual issuer. On Wednesday, they had a choice of three issuers, with different ratings and offering different tenors.

Euro conditions are excellent for public sector borrowers, with Spain pulling in a nearly €30bn book for an €8bn 10 year — which bankers away from the trade said indicated a high presence of quality investors — and KfW raising €5bn after picking a seven year deal over a shorter tenor. Another pair of issuers are now looking to take advantage.

The euro market for public sector borrowers looks set to kick back into action after a quiet last week, with a pair of big borrowers mandating for trades to come on Tuesday.

It wouldn't be a proper IPO season without a few duds.

Europe’s IPO market took a couple of knocks this week when one flotation was pulled and another traded sharply down on its debut, partly because investor sentiment has cooled. But there was still enough vigour in the market to ensure a successful conclusion to the €3bn re-privatisation of Allied Irish Banks (AIB), write John Loh and Jon Hay.