Eurobonds: Primary Mkts Remain Busy Ahead Of European Break
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LONDON (Dow Jones)--European primary markets remained busy Tuesday, as issuers continue to tap debt investors for fresh cash, squeezing in deals where they can ahead of holidays in some parts of Europe Thursday.
The outlook for bond markets remains rosy, as new issues continue to be oversubscribed and perform well in secondary trading.
"Continuing appetite for cash credit is clearly a positive - aside from corporates being able to obtain funding, secondary liquidity has likely been aided by the active primary market," said analysts at Barclays Capital.
In corporate issues, Danish brewer Carlsberg A/S was in the spotlight Tuesday setting final terms on its two-part euro- and sterling-denominated bond issue.
The company will price its EUR1 billion 2014-dated bond at 340 basis points over mid-swaps, while the GBP300 million, 2016-dated portion of the deal will price at 435 basis points over gilts.
BNP Paribas SA, Nordea Markets, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Societe Generale SA have been hired to manage the deal, which is expected to be priced later Tuesday.
French cement and building materials company Lafarge SA is back in the market for the second time in two days Tuesday, with a planned eight-year, GBP350 million benchmark bond, one of the banks working on the deal said Tuesday.
The company has hired Barclays PLC, HSBC Holdings and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC to manage the deal, which follows Lafarge's EUR1 billion 2014-dated bond, which priced late Monday, to yield 7.75%.
Both Lafarge and Carlsberg are rated Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service and BBB- by Standard & Poor's Corp.
Meanwhile, Telefonica Emisiones, a unit of Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica SA, tapped its existing EUR1 billion, 5.496%, 2016-dated bond for a further EUR500 million. The deal priced to offer 185 basis points over mid-swaps.
In financials, Dutch bank ING Groep NV set new price guidance on its forthcoming 10-year, euro-denominated benchmark covered bond at 125 basis points over mid-swaps, at the low end of initial price talk at 125-130 basis points over mid-swaps.
The triple-A rated deal will be led by Barclays PLC, BNP Paribas, ING and UniCredit SpA.
Norwegian bank DnB NOR ASA is also expected to price its five-year, euro-denominated, benchmark bond in the area of 190 basis points over mid-swaps.
In agency markets, Swedish Export Credit Corp. will issue a EUR1.25 billion bond with a five-year maturity, offering a 100 basis points over mid-swaps, while the African Development Bank will issue a $1 billion, five-year bond, offering a spread of around 50 basis points over mid-swaps