BBVA

Snam, the Italian gas network company, issued a €500m transition bond on Wednesday, which was three times oversubscribed and priced through its curve, suggesting that this controversial instrument is of interest to many investors.

There were no issues of competing supply on Tuesday as three eurozone sovereigns amassed big order books, buoyed by last week’s expansion of the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (Pepp).

Northern Powergrid, the UK energy distribution company, brought the longest sterling deal of the year so far with a 42 year trade on Tuesday, as syndicate bankers say that European investors are keen to see more long duration trades.

Spain and SNCF SA announced new euro benchmarks with 20 year maturities on Monday, following the European Investment Bank’s record-breaking effort in the tenor last Friday.

After the global eruption of the coronavirus pandemic, issuers such as governments, central banks and companies have been prompted to create new strategies to tackle the negative effects. Banks have also recently begun issuing labelled bonds linked ot their Covid responses.

Crédit Mutuel Arkéa has joined a fast-growing list of banks marketing Covid-19 response funding in the bond market, raising €750m in non-preferred senior format on Thursday to finance projects through its social bond framework that tackle the effects of the pandemic

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) has become the second bank to issue a Covid-19 bond in the euro market following the example set by BBVA in May.

BBVA surprised market participants by becoming the first bank to issue a Covid-19 response bond in Europe this week. There will be follow-on deals as the format catches on in credit markets — high grade corporates are looking to do deals too — but it is unlikely to be exploited as widely as it has been in the SSA market. David Freitas and Mike Turner report.

Tendam, a fashion retailer, is the latest Spanish company to get syndicated loan backing from state-owned Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), as sectors hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic lean on state support.

Rating: A3/A/A-

BBVA on Wednesday became the first European financial institution to launch a bond in the euro market to tackle Covid-19, unravelling the appetite for these type of bonds while undergoing a refinancing exercise.

High grade bond investors had a plethora of trades to pick from on Wednesday, as corporate bankers say May is shaping up to be a breakneck month for issuance.