Bank of China

BMW returned to China’s auto loan ABS market on Tuesday with a Rmb8bn ($1.2bn) two-tranche deal, its largest issuance so far, and received a big thumbs-up from investors.

A busy day for bond issuance from Chinese property companies offered investors a dash of variety, as investment grade rated China Jinmao Holdings Group vied for attention amid a slew of deals from high yield credits including Kaisa Group Holdings.

Nine Dragons Paper has moved a HK$3.9bn ($498m) loan into general syndication, giving a small group of banks two weeks to make a decision on the deal.

A wave of issuers — mostly Chinese — including China Mengniu Dairy Co and local government financing vehicle Guangzhou Development District Financial Holdings flooded the bond market on Thursday, riding the positive sentiment after the US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell signalled a rate cut later this month.

Chinese local government financing vehicle (LGFV) Tianjin Binhai New Area Construction & Investment Group Co’s decision to postpone a planned three year bond has highlighted the debt crisis in the Tianjin area.

BMW returned to the Panda bond market on Wednesday, raising Rmb3.5bn ($509m) from a privately-placed deal. The shortest tranche got plenty of demand from local investors, helped by flush short-term liquidity.

After raising Rmb5.5bn ($799m) from its largest auto loan ABS deal in March, BMW’s Chinese auto finance arm is returning for more. The planned Rmb8bn deal will hit the market on July 16.

Corporate bond issuance in Europe has slowed, though demand remains strong, as evidenced by new issues on Monday for A2A, the Italian multi-utility, with a debut green bond, and Logicor, the warehouses group. Bankers expect appetite to remain steady but for the pace of issuance to be more sedate than in recent weeks.

The Chinese Ministry of Finance (MoF) completed its maiden Rmb1.7bn ($247m) three year offshore renminbi bond in Macau on Thursday, pricing it slightly higher than onshore government bonds.

An undersupplied sterling bond market was on Wednesday given two new corporate deals to chew on: a £350m three year from carmaker BMW and a £250m no-grow eight year from UK retailer Marks & Spencer. Abertis Infraestructuras, the Spanish roll road operator, also offered a €1.3bn six and 10 year deal.

Tsinghua Tongfang Co has priced a smaller $300m deal, as investors appeared cautious amid an ongoing share sale. Yuzhou Properties and Shandong Guohui Investment Co returned to the market and saw big order books, the latter fueled by lead manager interest.

Żabka Polska, an operator of Polish convenience stores, has launched a syndicated loan to fund a dividend recapitalisation, according to bankers. The transaction is following closely in the footsteps of fellow Polish corporate, Allegro, that closed a Z2bn (€470m) dividend recap in May.