ZKB

Hyundai pulled into the Swiss franc bond market this week with a three-year green deal that was priced with a substantial new issue premium (NIP). Elsewhere, nuclear energy provider AKEB sold one of the highest yielding bonds of recent weeks.

Helvetia Holding, the Swiss insurance group, has raised Sfr300m from equity investors to fund its acquisition of Spanish insurer Caser, which it announced in January.

A wide gamut of deals across asset classes filtered through the Swiss franc market this week. Gyrations in swaps allowed Crédit Agricole to come flat on euros on Thursday, while also giving investors a great deal on a long end Lausanne trade.

A trio of double-A rated SSA names from South Korea, Central America and France tapped the Swiss franc market this week, raising a combined Sfr550m ($575.8m) and paving the way for other similar issuers to follow.

A shift in the Swiss franc-dollar basis swap has been enough to deter , foreign issuers from the Swiss bond market this week, leaving it to a Swiss biomedical market regular and a Liechtenstein-based power tool manufacturer.

The Canton of Geneva took its 2020 funding up to almost Sfr1.2bn ($1.2bn) this week with a triple tranche deal — the most it has funded in a single year since 2013, according to Dealogic. Elsewhere, an attractive basis for dollar funders led a pair of rare issuers to return to the market.

Issuers are starting to feel more comfortable with the new normal of wider spreads as a flurry of deals dusted the Swiss franc market, including a rare operating-company level visit from UBS.

Swiss franc bond spreads have failed to tighten as much as they have in the euro market, and the lack of price action meant few issuers ventured out this week. A trio of domestic deals comprised the only new supply.

Triple-B rated fragrance and flavourings company Firmenich sold its debut bond this week, a short end Swissie deal that was the prelude to dual tranche euro trade.

German chemicals and consumer goods firm Henkel cleaned up in Swissies after a 24 year absence this week, while local company SGS ventured out further along the maturity curve.

Infrequent issuers are slowly returning to the Swiss franc market. During the past week, Eurofima brought its first Swissies deal in six years, while biotech firm Lonza printed its first bond in any currency since 2017.

Having dropped off in early March, Swiss franc issuance has bounced back in the last fortnight, buoyed by returning investors flocking to low investment-grade rated borrowers, like triple-B rated cement manufacturer LafargeHolcim, and piling into a record-breaking foreign covered bond.