KfW

KfW built a towering book in the five year part of the euro curve on Wednesday with a deal that SSA bankers away from the trade said probably attracted heavy French demand. The agency’s choice of printing just €4bn from a book of over €8bn should ensure a tightening of its curve, they added.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

A new study of green bond pricing has stopped short of saying that green bond issuers can generally expect to get tighter new issue premiums. But the report’s lead author did say: “Green bond buyers can’t expect to receive a new issue premium — that is itself quite a bold statement.”

With the return of stability to the euro public sector market, a new wave of borrowing hit this week. Four core European names brought syndications, some of which were able to access unusual or difficult tenors because of the higher rates on offer.

The euro SSA market is returning to a more aggressive pace of issuance after a slackening in tempo last week. Two borrowers raised a combined €3bn on Wednesday and another pair are set to print on Thursday.

A jump in US Treasury yields following a higher than expected US inflation print could boost long end dollar supply from SSAs said bankers, although investors might be keen for concerns over inflation to die down first. Meanwhile, issuers have been focusing on short dated arbitrage style trades with benchmark issuance limited this week — and likely next week — due to the Chinese New Year holidays.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress Europe's supranational and agency borrowers have made in their funding programmes.

Public sector borrowers this week set new landmarks in what has already been an exemplary year in dollars, as KfW sold the largest 10 year dollar benchmark in 2.5 years and the Nordic Investment Bank priced the tightest deal versus swaps of 2018 so far. SSA bankers are confident that conditions will hold at both ends of the curve — allowing the possibility of further long end supply and even lower short end spreads.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

KfW on Wednesday posted a clear sign that the path to 10 year dollars is wide open for public sector borrowers, printing a $3bn global that was the largest trade in the tenor for 2.5 years. That left SSA bankers rubbing their hands and speculating over which borrower might come next.

Public sector borrowers wrapped up a trio of short end dollar trades on Tuesday, with the tightest issuer able to grind in pricing to the lowest level from an SSA this year and the higher yielding names finding ample demand despite ending up at similar spreads. SSA bankers are confident that the strong conditions will also ring true at the long end for KfW, which has mandated for its first 10 year dollar benchmark in nearly three years.

There have been high levels of issuance in the long end of the Aussie dollar curve this week, with a trade from KfW on Wednesday taking advantage of an increase in demand.