Rabobank

Chinese pork producer Muyuan Foods has set the ball rolling on its debut $200m offshore loan.

Rabobank said on Wednesday that it would take advantage of various EU schemes of funding and capital support, as it provided the market with an ad hoc update on its financial position during the coronavirus pandemic.

Credit Suisse has become the first Swiss bank to issue a green bond in the euro market, and has also marketed a rare floating rate note. The trades were testament to improving market conditions and the ability for strong names to sell less common products.

On a busy day for corporate bond issues, with prestigious competing deals including from Nestlé, Swisscom is nevertheless hogging attention with its debut green bond, which comes alongside another green debut, for power networks group Eurogrid.

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.

Rabobank exercised a call option on one of its outstanding additional tier ones this week, with market participants expecting redemption to become the rule rather than the exception during the coronavirus crisis.

Banco Santander and Rabobank led senior bond supply in Europe this week, both issuing well-received non-preferred deals while Crédit Mutuel Arkéa went for the preferred format. National champions and other strong banks are lining up to issue while market conditions are conducive for deals, but lesser credits remain on the sidelines.

Rabobank has become the first Dutch bank to enter the credit markets in over two months, after launching a non-preferred senior bond on Wednesday. The issuer tacked on a call option, which bankers say are cheap to deliver in the market at the moment.

Banco Santander wasted no time in heading to the non-preferred senior market this week, with investors responding well to the way in which European banks have been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic in their first quarter results.

Spreads in the financial institutions bond market have sprung back to more ‘normal’ levels lately, but issuers may have to wait a little while longer before capitalising on the improvement in conditions, given that many of them are side-lined by earnings blackouts.

Europe’s high grade corporate issuers began the week deploying their recent tactic of tightening spreads aggressively during bookbuilding from cheap starting points, with Elia Transmission Belgium ratcheting in its spread by 60bp from initial price thoughts.

Société Générale continued the streak of French bail-in bond issuance on Wednesday but had to pay a higher new issue premium compared to its compatriots.