News
KangaNews hosted an exclusive briefing with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) as part of the KangaNews Debt Capital Markets Summit 2020 online agenda. The reserve bank updated on the market-intervention measures it has rolled out since the start of the COVID-19 crisis while market participants discussed the RBA’s involvement from a range of perspectives.
New Zealand’s ultra-low rates environment enabled Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities (Kāinga Ora) to print a nominal bond transaction beyond 10-year tenor for the first time. The borrower says offshore participation in its deal was the highest it has experienced yet.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) joined Australia’s recent tier-two issuance line-up on 1 September, becoming the sixth Australian-domiciled issuer to bring a regulatory-capital transaction in just more than two weeks – five of them in the domestic market. CBA says it took its time after releasing annual results to launch the best possible deal.
Treasury Corporation Victoria (TCV) returned to the public syndicated market on 1 September having not printed a benchmark deal since mid-February. The issuer tells KangaNews lack of execution certainty kept its focus on reverse-enquiry and privately placed issuance until now.
Meridian Energy became the latest New Zealand corporate issuer to certify its entire debt programme under environmental criteria, with the 26 August launch of its green financing programme. All Meridian’s debt instruments – a book totalling NZ$1.8 billion (US$1.2 billion) – are covered by the programme, which means its existing and, potentially, future domestic and US private placement issuance is now in green-bond format.
UDC Finance’s sale by ANZ to Shinsei Bank has established what KangaNews understands is New Zealand’s largest warehouse facility. The issuer expects eventually to bring public term securitisation deals to New Zealand and could also access funding from further afield.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) printed a quick follow-up to last week’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) Kauri bond, as New Zealand dollar issuance conditions remain favourable compared with US dollars. ADB has now issued close to NZ$1 billion (US$737.7 million) of Kauri bonds in 2020.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced in its September monetary-policy decision further support for Australian authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) through an expansion and extension of the term funding facility (TFF). The measures are likely to increase overall TFF lending to around A$200 billion (US$148.1 billion).
After establishing its Australian debt issuance programme in late July, Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) issued its inaugural Kangaroo transaction on 26 August. The issuer tells KangaNews the deal priced inside its US dollar secondary curve.
New Zealand’s government-bond rally and demand from local investors spurred International Finance Corporation (IFC) return to Kauri issuance. The deal is the supranational’s first benchmark New Zealand dollar deal in 2020 and features the market’s lowest-ever coupon.
Aurizon Network returned to the Australian dollar bond market to term out bank debt taken on during the COVID-19 crisis. The issuer tells KangaNews discussions of the pandemic’s impact were more prominent than environmental, social and governance (ESG) questions in the deal process, while the issuer maintained support from the domestic and regional investor base.
A flurry of corporate deals have reopened the New Zealand market with high levels of demand, seemingly undeterred by the latest lockdowns. Deal sources say demand has always been present, especially in the retail space, but it is only now that issuers have been willing to test the waters for new issuance.