UBS

Chinese property developer Sinic Holdings (Group) Co launched a two year dollar bond on Thursday after receiving international credit ratings this week for the first time.

Weaker trading conditions have done little to shake expectations for a new wave of additional tier one (AT1) supply, writes Tyler Davies, with three banks having reopened the market in emphatic fashion this week, issuing €3.1bn-equivalent of debt into more than €20bn of demand.

UniCredit jumped into the euro market to raise senior funding at a pricing level it found much more familiar than recent elevated levels this week, while BPER Banca gave investors their first chance in several months to buy a new issue from a second tier Italian bank.

Conditions in the financial institutions bond market worsened this week but plenty of senior and subordinated bonds still got away. With credit spreads unpredictable, the supply outlook remains favourable, said bankers.

A wide gamut of deals across asset classes filtered through the Swiss franc market this week. Gyrations in swaps allowed Crédit Agricole to come flat on euros on Thursday, while also giving investors a great deal on a long end Lausanne trade.

Bonds of Unilever, the consumer goods firm, jumped on Thursday, despite it being a day of risk aversion in the markets, after it announced plans to merge its Dutch and UK entities. Unilever billed the move as simplifying its corporate structure to prepare for what it expects to be "the increasingly dynamic business environment that the Covid-19 pandemic will create" — as bankers predict industrial shake-ups will lead to mergers and acquisitions.

Chinese property companies continued to pile in to the dollar bond market on Wednesday, with Radiance Group Co and Powerlong Real Estate Holdings using up their remaining fundraising quotas.

Chinese e-commerce company JD.com is set to raise HK$30.1bn ($3.87bn) from its Hong Kong secondary listing, according to a source familiar with the matter.

UPL Corp broke a month-long absence of Indian issuers in the international debt market, raising $500m from investors.

Chinese real estate companies China Fortune Land Development and Ronshine China Holdings raised a combined $550m in the bond market on Tuesday, but their tight pricing did not appeal to all investors.

UniCredit is only the second Italian bank to have accessed public primary bond markets during the coronavirus pandemic, but other lenders from the periphery of the eurozone are now lining up to bring deals of their own.

Hong Kong’s Champion Reit sold a tightly priced $300m bond on Monday, enticing investors with its rarity in the international market.