Switzerland

Dufry, the Swiss duty free concession operator, attracted healthy demand for its emergency sale of new shares and convertible bonds on Thursday night — a transaction designed to raise as much liquidity as possible so it can survive the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a huge drop in the number of shoppers at its airport stores.

Triple-B rated fragrance and flavourings company Firmenich sold its debut bond this week, a short end Swissie deal that was the prelude to dual tranche euro trade.

BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole have become the first euro area banks to launch senior bonds for nearly two months. They joined UBS in the euro market on Tuesday, taking advantage of a recent rally in credit spreads across the sector.

Yankee bank and insurance names took centre stage in the dollar market as US banks prepared to give their first insight into the impact of the coronavirus with the arrival of bank earnings season.

Having dropped off in early March, Swiss franc issuance has bounced back in the last fortnight, buoyed by returning investors flocking to low investment-grade rated borrowers, like triple-B rated cement manufacturer LafargeHolcim, and piling into a record-breaking foreign covered bond.

Underwriting banks must subscribe to 30% of AMS's Sfr1.75bn (£1.81bn) rights issue after the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus smashed the Austrian sensor maker's share price during the offer period. Equity capital market sources said they have never seen a market which is so bad for issuance.

Issuers and investors in the Swiss franc market are grappling with much wider spreads on domestic and foreign issuers because of the volatility around the coronavirus pandemic.

Zur Rose, a Swiss online pharmacy group, revived the primary equity-linked bond market in Europe this week, issuing a debut Sfr175m five year convertible bond as demand for its services increases amid the Covid-19 crisis.

The volume of new euro senior debt sold by banks has hit €10bn this week, following deals from Barclays, Credit Suisse and NatWest Markets on Thursday. Yield and spread levels remain high, but market participants have been delighted to see investors throwing their confidence behind new transactions in the middle of the coronavirus crisis.

SIG Combibloc, the Swiss food and beverage packaging company, took advantage of strong demand among ECM investors to price a Sfr539.6m ($564.1m) block trade, growing the deal in the process.

Three banks seized a favourable backdrop in the bond market to sell senior bonds this week, finding a warm welcome for maturities from three to six years.

Swissport is looking to reprice its existing €850m term loan and add on another €50m, in a test of market appetite to tighten terms for companies with owners outside the top tier group of sponsors. The refi comes as reports suggest HNA Holdings, the Chinese conglomerate, is once again looking to sell the company after talks last year collapsed.