Swedish Export Credit Corporation

The first busy week for benchmarks after the summer break returned a slew of solid scores for borrowers, with Finland’s 10 year euro deal the pick of the bunch.

Swedish Export Credit Corporation priced a new $1bn two year deal on Thursday, joining several other issuers to sell dollar bonds this week as the market livened up.

Rating: Aa1/AA+

Big moves in US Treasury yields, swap spreads and the euro/dollar and euro/sterling basis swaps put paid to some dollar issuance this week as some borrowers held back and others tapped different currencies. But a pair of Swedish names did get deals done, and rates started to move back into more favourable areas, suggesting volumes could pick up again next week.

Climbing US Treasury yields and tightening swap spreads are pushing out levels in dollars, but Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) managed a successful three year trade — a good omen for an upcoming deal from Kommuninvest on Wednesday.

Swedish Export Credit Corporation will bring a three week dearth of SSA dollar benchmark issuance to an end on Tuesday after mandating for a three year issue. A shift in Libor rates, swap spreads and secondary levels since the last glut of dollar supply should all make for a keenly watched trade, said bankers.

This week's scorecard looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made in their funding programmes.

The sterling SSA market snapped back into life with a flurry of new deals after a quiet few weeks — although bankers lamented that the issuance door may have closed just as quickly as it opened.

Rating: Aa1/AA+

The Province of Alberta printed a strong 10 year dollar benchmark on Thursday — the first in that maturity from an SSA since late January — leading the way for others to follow, said SSA bankers. Elsewhere, five years was very much in vogue in the dollar market — although there were some signs of investor fatigue by the end of the week, despite more issuers being expected to look at the tenor next week.

Swedish Export Credit Corporation on Wednesday priced what bankers away from the deal said was a “very strong trade”, as it printed in the same five year tenor that has brought success for SSAs over the last few weeks. But one borrower is set to attempt a tenor that has not been visited since late January.

SSA borrowers are piling up in dollars. Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) will bring a five year benchmark on Wednesday, coming on the heels of Oesterreichische Kontrollbank’s (OeKB) own deal in the tenor on Tuedsay.