News

Tasmanian Public Finance Corporation and Northern Territory Treasury Corporation issued new 2032 benchmark lines within days of each other. The issuers say market conditions have stabilised after almost a month of rates volatility, allowing for their sizeable prints.

The US private placement market has long been a happy home for Australasian issuers. The annual USPP roundtable hosted by KangaNews and MUFG found that lower issuance in 2020 had nothing to do with lack of support from the investor base and that hopes remain high for future primary supply. USPP investors also share perspectives on the rapid growth in significance of environmental, social and governance analysis in their market.

Australian companies included in the Climate Action 100+ benchmark display strong governance and disclosure but material commitments to investment and near-term GHG reduction are lacking. KangaNews spoke to Laura Hillis, Melbourne-based director, Climate Action 100+ at the Investor Group on Climate Change, about the aims, methodology and Australian results from the benchmark report.

The Australian dollar credit market has been reshaped in the wake of COVID-19, largely as a consequence of Reserve Bank of Australia market intervention. A supply-demand imbalance is evident and could potentially bring risk, but fund managers express a degree of comfort on the basis that their approach to allocation has not yet needed to change dramatically.

Mercury NZ’s green-bond print on 19 March highlights significant ongoing demand for corporate debt in New Zealand amid a relatively quiet supply backdrop. Deal sources say pricing also illustrates the relative-value proposition of corporate bonds compared with bank debt.

KangaNews hosted its annual roundtable discussion for Australia’s leading bank fixed-income strategists in February – just as a new round of market speculation on the path of Reserve Bank of Australia stimulus was kicking off. The strategists remain convinced that Australian QE is set for some time, however – and that the market will continue to revolve around the gravitational pull of the central bank.

Humm group has executed its first securitisation transaction since rebranding from flexigroup late last year. The deal, which priced on 17 March, uses the issuer’s flexicommercial programme for the first time in the public market after a six-year hiatus.

Changes to the EU’s securitisation regulation proposed late in 2020 have been a thorn in the side for Australia’s securitisation industry in the opening months of the year. The amendments put a prohibition of investment from EU-based entities on the cards. However, with a date approaching for the proposals’ reading in the EU parliament, industry figures are confident the issues will be resolved.

Verizon’s third Australian dollar transaction formed part of a run of blockbuster deals by the same issuer across global markets, following its participation in recent US 5G spectrum auctions. Australian dollar leads say the deal priced at a competitive level for the issuer and demand was broad based.

APT Pipelines, the borrowing entity of APA Group, issued a multitranche deal in the euro and sterling markets on 9 March. The issuer says it was not fazed by ongoing rates volatility and its focus was the transaction’s ability to secure significantly lower cost of funds.

Australia’s national modern-slavery reporting deadline is looming, on 31 March 2021. There are capital-market consequences, most notably that buy-side firms are taking steps to ensure they have appropriate modern-slavery risk controls in place.

Treasury Corporation of Victoria (TCV) (AA/Aa1) revealed on 15 March that it expects to raise approximately A$4 billion (US$3.1 billion) prior to the release of the Victorian state budget in mid-May 2021. This includes proceeding with its planned new long-dated syndication – provided market conditions are conducive.