Rentenbank

No matter how deep yields in the primary euro bond market dived into negative territory this week, investors seemed desperate to follow, locking in record low levels in anticipation of the European Central Bank (ECB) making a further cut in its deposit rate and resuming quantitative easing. Burhan Khadbai and Bill Thornhill report.

Rentenbank failed to achieve subscription for its €500m 10 year trade on Tuesday, despite offering a positive yield and a maturity that has been labelled the ‘sweet spot’ in the euro public sector bond market.

Three SSA borrowers issued a total of £200m ($255m) of medium-term notes in response to an inquiry for three year non-call one fixed rate sterling bonds on Tuesday — which probably all sold to the same buyer — amid an uptick of paper in the currency.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress of Europe's supranationals and agencies at the end of April.

Rentenbank printed at a tight spread on Thursday with a 10 year euro benchmark, swelling the deal to €1.25bn.

Rentenbank hit screens on Wednesday to announce a 10 year euro benchmark, joining a resurgence of long-dated euro supply.

Italy passed a test at the long end of the curve with a final order book of over €41bn for a 30 year syndication on Wednesday — far surpassing its previous record book that was set only last month.

World Bank on Thursday added to a record breaking start to the year for public sector sterling issuance with yet another large trade. A German agency is set to bring another deal this Friday in a market that shows no signs of slowing down.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress of Europe's supranationals and agencies as the year comes to a close. Some of the issuers have also set their funding targets for 2019.

A dollar benchmark from Rentenbank scored comfortably higher than a euro trade from the European Financial Stability Facility in the latest BondMarker results. That is in keeping with a few weeks where the dollar market has been far more resilient than a wobbly euro sector.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

After a year during which euro issuance from SSAs has far outstripped that in dollars, thanks to the vagaries of the euro/dollar basis swap, a German agency was able to nip in to a funding week shortened by US elections and central bank meetings to score a strong result with its sole dollar benchmark of the year.