By Sarka Halas
The European primary bond market was buzzing with activity
Tuesday, with Russia's largest steel producer tapping the market,
banks selling covered and subordinated bonds, and Fiat SpA (F.MI)
the first Italian company to test the water following the Italian
elections.
Borrowing conditions remain favorable and the rest of the week
may look as busy as Tuesday with a few issuers in the pipeline
mulling potential bonds in the near future.
Credit markets opened slightly wider in early Tuesday, and have
remain unchanged from the open throughout the morning.
Here is a rundown of how the credit default swap market stands,
what hit the market today, and what is coming up soon.
CDS:
iTraxx Europe index: 1 basis point wider at 105/106 bps
iTraxx Crossover index: 2 bps wider at 406/407 bps
NEW ISSUES
Russia's largest steel producer OAO Severstal (CHMF.RS) is
planning a dollar-denominated five-year bond.
Italian car maker Fiat is planning a benchmark-size,
euro-denominated, five-year bond. Suggested pricing is for the bond
to yield in the area of 7%.
Luxembourg is pressing ahead with plans to sell a
benchmark-size, euro-denominated, 15-year bond. Suggested pricing
is in the mid-to-high single-digit area over midswaps.
Spanish lender CaixaBank SA (CABK.MC) is planning a
benchmark-size, euro-denominated, five-year covered bond. Suggested
pricing is in the area of 220 basis points over midswaps.
Swedish lender Stadshypotek AB has planned a euro-denominated,
benchmark-size 2018 covered bond. Suggested pricing on the bond is
in the high single digits over the reference midswaps rate.
U.K.-based Nationwide Building Society (NANW.LN) is pressing
ahead with its euro-denominated callable subordinated bond.
Suggested pricing is in the range of 340 to 350 basis points over
the reference midswaps rate. The bond will be callable in five
years.
French lender Banque Federative du Credit Mutuel plans a
euro-denominated senior unsecured bond maturing in 6.5 years.
An initial price indication is between 90 and 95 basis points
over the midswaps reference rate.
COMING UP:
The Republic of Finland is mulling a potential euro-denominated,
10-year bond, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The
bond may be launched in the near future subject to market
conditions.
French defense electronics company Thales SA (HO.FR) has planned
an investor call ahead of a potential euro-denominated bond.
Elia System Operator SA/NV (ELI.BT) has planned a series of
investor meetings ahead of a potential senior, unsecured
euro-denominated benchmark bond.
-Ben Edwards and Serena Ruffoni contributed to this report.
Write to Sarka Halas at sarka.halasova@dowjones.com