DZ Bank

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and WL Bank successively priced the tightest covered bonds of the year this week and both were able to tighten pricing to a greater extent than any previous German issuer.

United Overseas Bank this week became the first issuer to price covered bonds simultaneously in euros and dollars, helping it to attract new, especially Asian, investors.

The Asia debt market saw a fresh rush of dollar deals on Wednesday, with property names China Jinmao Holdings Group and Xinhu Zhongbao, as well as Singapore’s United Overseas Bank launching new deals.

With more than 100 investors in the book and an oversubscription ratio of nearly three times, Nord/LB’s Luxembourg subsidiary enjoyed one of the best receptions of any €500m covered bond seen this year and one that was much better than all its previous deals.

A few of Europe's smaller borrowers are trying their luck now that the storm of issuance that thronged markets through most of January has abated.

SpareBank1 Boligkreditt, Aareal Bank and Nordea took advantage of strong demand for five year paper to issue oversubscribed deals this week, paying virtually no new issue concession.

Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt and Aareal Bank issued well oversubscribed covered bonds on Wednesday, paying virtually no new issue concession. Both banks took advantage of enduring demand for five year tenors, while for Aareal the issue was cheaper than the European Central Bank’s term liquidity.

Auckland Council on Thursday pulled off a 7bp tightening for its first ever public deal in euros. The trade was joined in the market by paper from the City of Hamburg and Bpifrance Financement.

Agence Française de Développement made its 2017 debut with a €1.5bn five year on Wednesday, but longer dated euro deals seem to be struggling as European Investment Bank found with a April 2032 tap.

Covered bond issuers from Europe’s core accessed the market across a range of intermediate tenors this week with LBBW, Compagnie de Financement Foncier (CFF) and Helaba issuing some of their largest deals in years.

Fresenius, the German kidney dialysis group, has closed its second Schuldschein issue of the year, growing the deal from the launch size of €400m to €1bn, which brings the its total issuance in the market this year to €1.38bn.

Appetite for 30 year callable zeroes in dollars has been bolstered by Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections and the resultant hike in bond yields around the world.