Austria

Austria's new benchmark was over 10 times covered on Wednedsay, making the sovereign the latest in a string of its peers to receive a record order book for a syndicated bond this year.

Austrian sensor maker AMS said on Tuesday that it intended to sell all its treasury shares, ahead of its looming €1.64bn rights issue to finance its takeover of Osram Licht, the German lighting manufacturer.

Issuers of additional tier one (AT1) capital have been more than 10 times subscribed for new deals on average in 2020 so far. This week's euro trade from Erste Group was no exception, with the €500m bond attracting €6.25bn of orders and a 'phenomenally tight' coupon.

Austrian covered bond borrowers Bawag PSK, UniCredit Bank Austria and RLB Oberösterreich found a warm reception for their €500m no-grow deals this week.

Demand for senior trades from Commerzbank and Raiffeisen Bank International this week reflected a softness in secondary performance, as well as a slowdown in the primary market as European banks enter blackout season.

Danske Mortgage Bank, Santander UK, Raiffeisenlandesbank Hypothekenpfandbrief and UniCredit Bank AG were marketing covered bonds on Wednesday, steering well clear of negative yields by tapping into healthy demand for long dated assets.

Issuers rushed to open the euro covered bond market this week. Trades from ABN Amro, Erste Group and LBBW showed that investors are ready to put cash to work, but higher new issue premiums suggested that issuers were taking a 'conservative' approach at the beginning of the year.

Christian Schreckeis, the former head of capital markets and investor relations at the Austrian treasury, has taken on additional responsibility for Austria's budget.

Cerberus Capital Management has sold the last of its stake in Austrian bank Bawag, its second trade in two months following an earlier sale in November.

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) managed to attract a convincing order book for its debut covered bond issued on Monday following a roadshow, largely thanks to the rare double-digit spread it paid over mid-swaps, and the compelling pickup compared to its Austrian peers.

Austria has the green light from Chinese regulators for its inaugural Panda bond issue as it looks to become the second eurozone sovereign to tap the market.

Danish Ships Finance, Natixis Pfandbriefbank and Raiffeisen Bank International will keep the primary market busy with deals and roadshows this week. But the main focus will be on the size and spread that Deutsche Bank achieves for its innovative debut structured conditional pass through (CPT) covered bond that will be launched imminently.