UBS

The pent-up demand from equity owners to sell down blocks of shares was evident again on Thursday evening, as two deals were launched, after the Euro Stoxx 50 had managed to rise 0.3% on the day.

Credit and equity markets suffered a crisis of confidence this week, with several previously crowded trades rapidly unraveling in the face of rising concerns about European banks, US Federal Reserve policy and a perceived lack of European Central Bank firepower to revitalise the continent’s stagnant economy.

Concerns over the exodus of real money investors from the covered bond market were put to rest this week as a series of deals met exceptionally strong demand, with the sea change in sentiment being most conspicuous in the French sector.

Swedbank and SEB this week launched deals that attracted the largest order books and the widest distribution of any covered bonds issued this year, along with the smallest concessions.

ANZ New Zealand this week became the latest in a slew of Antipodean financial institutions to print Swiss franc denominated debt.

The arid landscape for equity block trades so far this year in EMEA was brightened on Wednesday by two evening sales, both with a Russian flavour and involving elite clients.

Attractive spreads have improved sentiment considerably in the covered bond market, but senior issuance remains elusive as cautious banks deal with gloomy data.

Alliance Automotive, the Blackstone-owned French car parts supplier, this week tapped its 2021 notes for €70m as the European high yield market tries to regain momentum after a poor January.

Argentina’s government reopened negotiations with holdout creditors on Monday after securing a $5bn loan from seven global banks last week.

A UBS debt buyback weighed on results for the fourth quarter last year, with the Swiss bank reporting profit of just Sfr234m. UBS preferred to highlight the “adjusted” figure of Sfr754m profit, which strips out the tender cost of Sfr257m, and restructuring charges, including Sfr143m in the investment bank.

Lippo Karawaci has completed an early exchange offer to repurchase its outstanding notes as part of a debt management exercise. The result shows that the firm has come close to what it was expected to raise with the bond swap.

AIB Mortgage Bank attracted robust demand for its €1bn seven year covered bond issued on Thursday, and WL Bank also did well despite the difficult 10 year tenor and measly spread.