News
Deal flow in the Australian market continued at a good clip for the third week running with issuance from a range of Kangaroo and local borrowers. The New Zealand market saw a pickup with deals from Contact Energy and a resumption of Kauri issuance. The most significant deal this week was the Australian Office of Financial Management's jumbo new syndication.
After its longest period without a deal so far in 2013 – nearly three weeks, according to KangaNews data – the Kauri market resumed on May 23 as Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) (AAA/Aaa) priced an increase to its five-year bond. Overall the Kauri market remains on record pace, with NZ$3.825 billion (US$3.1 billion) now priced this year, and a solid second half could see the all-time annual issuance record broken.
On May 23, Bank of Queensland (BOQ) (BBB+/Baa1/BBB+) priced a new three-year transaction in the Australian market. According to KangaNews data BOQ priced its previous domestic senior unsecured issue in November last year, a three-year floating rate note with volume of A$250 million (US$245.3 million) and pricing of 160 basis points over bank bill swap.
On May 23, Kommunalbanken Norway (KBN) (AAA/Aaa) priced a new five-year Kangaroo line – the 15th mandate in the Kangaroo market in May to date. According to KangaNews data, KBN priced its previous issue in April this year with a volume of A$200 million (US$195.55 million) and pricing of 136.75 basis points over Australian government bond.
Downer Group Finance (Downer) – the issuing entity of Downer EDI (BBB-) – priced a new issue of five-year maturity Australian dollar notes on May 22 in the issuer's first domestic public bond transaction since 2009. The transaction also suggests growing momentum in the Australian dollar market for lower triple-B rated issuers: according to KangaNews data it is the fourth such deal to launch so far this year following just one in full-year 2012.
On May 22, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) priced an increase to its 2017 Kangaroo. The new deal is the second tap to the line since it was issued in September 2012 at a volume of A$400 million (US$391.63 million) and pricing of 80.5 basis points over Australian government bond (ACGB). The line saw its first tap in February 2013 when IADB added A$150 million at 58.5 basis points over ACGB.
On May 22, the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) priced a new 3.25 per cent coupon April 2025 benchmark government bond.
On May 22, African Development Bank (AfDB) (AAA/Aaa) mandated and priced a new five-year Kangaroo transaction. The deal is the third AfDB Kangaroo issue of the year and adds a floating-rate pricing point in 2018 to the supranational's exiting, A$500 million (US$488.8 million), five-year fixed-rate line.
Strong investor appetite for Australian-origin asset backed securities (ABS) has seen two new auto-backed deals from Bank of Queensland (BOQ) and Macquarie Leasing (Macquarie) come to the market in May. However, market participants admit the pipeline for further supply remains thin.
Macquarie Group (Macquarie) closed the bookbuild for its new hybrid offer a day early, announcing on May 20 that the deal had been upsized to A$580 million (US$569.1 million) from its initial size of A$400 million. Margin on the hybrid has been set at 400 basis points over bank bill swap rate, the tight end of a 20 basis point marketing range.