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◆ No book update for €500m no-grow deal ◆ Surprising lack of demand for defensive trade ◆ Investors continue to cherry pick in big week for supply
◆ Spread to Land Hessen key to pricing ◆ Leads thought long and hard on whether to tighten ◆ 1bp move the right amount as book grew
◆ Three German states brought a new Joint Länder bond ◆ No book update, KfW curve guides pricing ◆ Flemish Community prints new 15 year
Second digital project won’t be the issuer’s last, Länder peers may be ‘interested and willing’ to join in
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Italy’s Tesoro picked up in the first week of 2014 where it left off at the end of 2013, selling €4bn of three year BTPs at a yield of 1.51% in the first auction of the year in early January. That did not just represent the lowest cost of funding Italy had achieved since the introduction of the euro. It was also a very far cry from the make-or-break auctions in late 2011, when the Tesoro was paying yields of close to 6.5% for five year funding. The success of this year’s first auction built on the spectacular momentum that developed for Italy in the local as well as the international capital market throughout 2013. The factors driving this performance, and the sustainability of the rally in BTPs, were some of the topics discussed at the Tesoro roundtable held in Rome in early February. -
While economists argue that the case for Italian government bonds remains compelling, weak fundamentals and tail risks that refuse to go away have left some investors wary of the Italian BTP market, finds Philip Moore.
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With losses of around €6bn from €36bn of contracts, local governments in Italy have, understandably, been banned from buying derivatives products. But what of their appetite for more straightforward capital markets instruments such as bonds? Philip Moore finds out.
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The Italian banking system has been surprisingly resilient since the crisis, but profitability is weak and loan quality poor, with the ratio of NPLs having almost tripled since 2007. Elliot Wilson investigates what Italy’s banking sector is doing to restore profitability and the how it is affected by Basel III and bail-in requirements.
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In spite of serious restructuring at many Italian banks in the past two years, their names still appear high on the list of investor concerns ahead of the European Central Bank’s comprehensive assessment that is published later this year. The banks say they are ready. Tom Porter finds out if they’re right.
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Italian banks’ borrowing costs have tumbled in the past two years, even as the economy has been stagnant and asset quality has deteriorated. But with the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Italy helping banks shape up their balance sheets, there is a genuine feeling that this year could be the final stretch on the road back to normality.
