UniCredit

At its results presentation on Thursday, UniCredit's CEO Jean Pierre Mustier scotched rumours that it was planning to set up a new German holding company and revealed instead plans for a holding company in Italy, designed to make its organisational structure more efficient for regulatory capital and resolution purposes.

The European Union felt it paid little over its benchmark curve for a €150m medium term note (MTN) that will finance the last of three disbursements to Tunisia.

BBVA and DNB Bank were both looking to build towards their minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) in the euro market on Thursday, eschewing non-preferred senior issuance in favour of the cheaper preferred senior format.

UniCredit’s has chalked up its best quarterly numbers in a decade, its CEO said on Thursday, with the performance of the investment bank lifted by soaring trading revenues. The Italian lender claimed victory on its ‘Transform 2019’ plan, ahead of the launch of a new business strategy early next month.

UniCredit sold its entire stake in Mediobanca through a €784m block trade on Wednesday night, before announcing its third quarter results on Thursday morning.

Dufry, the world’s largest travel retailer, issued €750m of senior unsecured notes on Wednesday to buy back its outstanding €700m of 4.5% notes, due in 2023, and pay back a small slice of its revolver.

A flurry of new deals this week had issuers having to compete for investors’ attention. Bankers said that higher yielding deals were much easier to sell, with non-preferred senior bonds from Bankia and Lloyds Banking Group proving more popular than a tighter print from Belfius.

Central European telecommunications provider PPF Arena 1 has come to market for its second bond issue, after debuting earlier this year.

Spanish banks are using strong market conditions to their advantage towards the start of November, with Banco de Sabadell completing its annual funding plans this week and UniCaja Banco getting ready to launch its debut tier two transaction.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) is getting ready to offer FIG investors a very rare chance to purchase green bank capital in euros, with the issuer set to hit the road for a new tier two in November.

Italian infrastructure engineering firm Maire Tecnimont has brought a sustainability-linked note to the Schuldschein market, the second to be launched this week. However, with this debut issue, the margin rise or fall is larger than the previous two, making it an interesting test for investors.

Gestamp, the Spanish automotive engineering company, has closed its Schuldschein with indications of a final size at about €180m. Market players believe that Spain and Italy may be the next key sources of growth in the years to come.