Lloyds Bank

Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group kept the sterling covered bond market busy this week with Sonia-linked trades that drew strong demand and were priced with no new issue premium.

Lloyds Bank found good demand for its third visit to the sterling covered bond market in the last eight months and the largest Sonia linked bond of that type issued this year. Attractive relative value and a prospective supply slowdown propelled demand, enabling the deal to be priced flat to fair value.

The Co-operative Group, the UK food retailer and provider of funeral, legal and insurance services, launched its first sustainable bond on Wednesday and achieved impressive demand. But that had little to do with its ethical characteristics.

The Co-operative Group, the UK food retailer, undertaker, insurer and legal services provider, has announced a £250m sustainable bond issue which will be unusual in three ways. Green and sustainable bonds are rare in the UK and rare in the high yield market, while the use of proceeds Co-op is planning is close to unique.

The euro covered bond market is ‘wide open’ for any UK bank following a successful transaction this week from Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) and before that, Lloyds Bank. This supply could also provide a vital stepping stone to the first UK senior deal in euros this year, said bankers.

The UK’s McKay Securities has signed a £180m revolving credit facility, with the office and industrial REIT switching its bilateral loans for a bigger syndicated deal.

Europe’s most prolific corporate bond issuer re-entered the market on Monday for its second multi-tranche deal of the year, and issued €2.75bn, slightly more than at its €2.5bn outing in January. The book for Volkswagen Financial Services’ three tranche issue was somewhat smaller this time, however.

SSP, the UK food and drinks retail operator, has sold US private placements (US PP) via Barclays and Bank of America. Pricing was similar to its PP debut last year, market participants said, which is a sign that, for the right UK credit, the market remains stable amid the Brexit storm.

Lloyds Bank and National Westminster Bank issued exceptionally well subscribed covered bonds respectively in euros and sterling on Monday as Virgin Money announced roadshow plans for its debut deal. The three borrowers took advantage of the UK Parliamentary vote to avert a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

UK banks have surfaced in the unsecured debt markets for the first time in about four months, buoyed by optimism about a series of crucial votes on Brexit in parliament next week. Experts suggest that the country’s financial institutions will have to get used to these sorts of narrow issuance windows, with the country yet to even start the most challenging stages of its exit from the European Union.

UK financial institutions are returning to the debt markets ahead of a fresh vote on the Brexit withdrawal agreement next week, with Lloyds Banking Group hitting the US market on Tuesday and HSBC Holdings turning to sterling after a dollar transaction earlier in the week.

Cadent Gas has sold £680m-equivalent of US private placements (US PP) across several tranches, in dollars and sterling, according to market participants, in one of the largest PP transactions from a UK utility on record. This is evidence that PP investors are not shying away from UK names, market participants claim, even amid the uncertainty of Brexit.