Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) (AA+/Aa1) has announced the launch of a new state-guaranteed August 2013 benchmark line via syndication. The transaction, which is expected to price shortly after its October 20 launch, will be the state treasury corporation's fourth bookbuilt benchmark listing of 2010 – it has already placed A$9.5 billion (US$9.3 billion) via syndication this year.
International Finance Corporation (IFC) (AAA/Aaa) increased its July 2020 Kangaroo bond by A$400 million (US$393.1 million) on October 21, one day after launching. The line, which was introduced in July this year, brings the total volume outstanding to A$900 million.
Adelaide Airport (BBB/Baa2) increased its outstanding floating rate September 2015 bonds by A$50 million (US$48.8 million) on October 20. The increase was offered as a buyback of the credit-wrapped line maturing on December 15 this year, and was upsized to a capped volume from A$32.46 million at launch a day earlier.
On October 20 CFS Retail Property Trust (CFS Retail) (A) issued a new domestic deal across two maturities, pricing A$160 million (US$155.9 million) in a 3.5-year floating rate note (FRN) and A$290 million in a 5.5-year fixed rate maturity. The FRN priced at the predicted 160 basis points over bank bill swap rate (BBSW), while the fixed rate paper priced slightly tighter than the expected 190 basis points at 185 basis points over semi-swap.
Investec Bank Australia (Investec Australia) (Baa1/BBB) completed a buyback offer on its February 2012 Australian government-guaranteed bond line on October 25 having repurchased A$195 million (US$192.1 million) of paper. Final volume represents almost the entirety of the A$200 million floating rate tranche of the line, which also has A$200 million outstanding in fixed rate format.
Kangaroo issuance – already at a record level in 2010 – has exhibited an inverse relationship with the Australian dollar in recent weeks with deal flow easing as the currency has appreciated to the point where it is flirting with US dollar parity. However, Kangaroo market intermediaries say the almost unprecedented strength of the currency, taken alone, is too simple an explanation for reduced deal flow.
Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) (AA+/Aa1) issued a new A$1.6 billion October 2015 benchmark maturity via syndication on October 15. The new line was offered via a consolidation offer from the outstanding October 2015 benchmark; the new line is covered by state guarantee only while the existing bond carries the Australian government guarantee.
The margin over government bonds paid by Treasury Corporation of Victoria (TCV) (AAA/Aaa) in the October 13 tender of its new December 2024 benchmark line was marginally wider than levels predicted by analysts in advance of the listing. TCV placed a total of A$755 million (US$743.7 million) of the new bond, A$512 million in an initial tender and a further A$243 million through a consolidation of outstanding lines dated beyond 2018.
On October 14, Société Générale (SocGen) (A+/Aa2/A+) priced its inaugural Kangaroo issue - a A$500 million (US$497.8 million) October 2014 line. SocGen is the second French financial institution to make its Kangaroo debut in a week.
Deals priced early in October have taken cumulative issuance in both the Australian domestic vanilla credit and Kangaroo markets to unprecedented levels. Excluding government guaranteed deal flow, both markets have now seen more volume priced than in any previous full calendar year while unwrapped corporate issuance also looks likely to hit record levels before the month is out.
In a quiet week for Australian issuance the revival of the Kangaroo covered bond market was the clear highlight. In the wake of the first such trade since 2007 – Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)'s (A+/Aa2, with a covered bond rating of AAA/Aaa/AAA) A$750 million (US$737 million) three-year – investors and intermediaries say they expect the market to prosper on the back of expected sustained demand from, in particular, bank buyers.
Rentenbank (AAA/Aaa/AAA) issued a A$400 million (US$393.7 million) increase to its 6.5 per cent April 2017 Kangaroo bond on October 8, taking the total line size to A$900 million. The agency inaugurated the April 2017s in March this year with a A$250 million transaction and increased it by A$250 million on August 26.