Raiffeisen Bank International AG

This week, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times – and despite volatility caused by the spread of the Covid-19, a trickle of MTN issuance has managed to slip through into the market.

Emerging market bond valuations were in free-fall on Monday, after a collapse in the price of oil gave investors yet another reason to worry about the global economic outlook.

New emerging market bond issues have been assessed on a case-by-case basis this week as the spread of the Covid-19 virus delivered sharp swings in global markets. Some borrowers wanted to forge ahead in case of a further sell-off, while others prefer to wait for a recovery.

New emerging market bond issues are being assessed on a case by case basis as a split between those issuers keen to forge ahead and those preferring to delay emerges.

The Republic of Belarus will roadshow a dollar and euro dual trancher next week, but made it clear in the mandate announcement that there may be a wait before the bond is printed.

Romania sold €1.4bn 2% 2032s and €1.6bn 3.375% 2050s on Tuesday, managing to get away half of the country’s €6bn funding target for 2020 in one swoop.

Two CEEMEA sovereigns are taking the plunge this week — the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a triple tranche dollar benchmark and Romania with a dual tranche euro bond.

Demand for senior trades from Commerzbank and Raiffeisen Bank International this week reflected a softness in secondary performance, as well as a slowdown in the primary market as European banks enter blackout season.

Danske Mortgage Bank, Santander UK, Raiffeisenlandesbank Hypothekenpfandbrief and UniCredit Bank AG were marketing covered bonds on Wednesday, steering well clear of negative yields by tapping into healthy demand for long dated assets.

Investors showered a debut dollar deal from Uzpromstroybank with orders on Monday, with the order book for the $300m bond peaking at $1.2bn. But despite the success for the privatisation candidate, government officials are hoping that future Uzbek bond issuance will favour local currencies.

Uzpromstroybank, the BB-/BB- rated bank that is majority owned by the Uzbek government, had racked up more than $800m of orders by lunchtime on Monday for its five year dollar bond.

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) managed to attract a convincing order book for its debut covered bond issued on Monday following a roadshow, largely thanks to the rare double-digit spread it paid over mid-swaps, and the compelling pickup compared to its Austrian peers.