News

ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) says its decision not to redeem a subordinated note issued out of its New Zealand subsidiary at the first of its two call dates is no more than a function of the specific security's unique features, and has no impact on the rest of the bank's capital instruments. On February 15 ANZ told investors it would not immediately be redeeming the NZ$835 million (US$710.3 million) subordinated bond it issued in April 2008.

Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) has completed a number of promotions, personnel moves and hires in its debt markets business, including a key hire in its DCM origination operation in London. The three operations within the debt markets group – DCM, securitisation and syndicated loans – are now headed from Sydney by Simon Ling, general manager and global head of debt markets.

After a three-week hiatus, Kangaroo deal flow resumed on February 14 with the mandate and pricing by KfW Bankengruppe (KfW) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) of an increase to its February 2022 bond. The transaction is KfW's second of the new year,adding A$500 million (US$517.5 million) to the A$1.4 billion previously on issue in a line which was introduced in February 2012.

The February 13 tender by the South Australian Government Financing Authority (SAFA) (AA/Aa1) of a new 2016 maturity floating-rate note (FRN) benchmark is likely to be followed by further such issuance by the state funder. The agency raised A$2 billion (US$2.1 billion) in the introduction of the new benchmark select line, which priced at a margin of 20 basis points over bank bill swap rate (BBSW).

On February 20 National Australia Bank (NAB) announced the results of the bookbuild on its new retail hybrid offer, revealing the deal had been upsized to A$1.4 billion (US$1.44 billion) from an indicative A$750 million (US$775.6 million). NAB's offer follows a similar launch by Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac), which on February 8 was upsized to A$1.25 billion from A$750 million.

Half-year results released by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) on February 13 reveal that the deposit portion of the bank's funding base continued to creep upwards in the six months to December 2012, even as the cost of new wholesale funding declined substantially. The bank also disclosed the makeup of its retail deposit mix, showing notable growth in investment account balances.

A new issue of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (BEN), the first Australian dollar securitisation issue of 2013, priced on February 8. The deal, Torrens Series 2013-1 Trust, comprises four tranches with combined volume of A$850.4 million (US$875.3 million).

Deal flow in the Australian market remained slow in the past week, with the previously-busy Kangaroo market witnessing no transactions at all. There was some action in the financial institution and corporate space, and Australia's first securitisation transaction of the new year was introduced. In New Zealand another large Kauri deal continued the market's record-breaking pace at the start of 2013.

On February 8 Suncorp Bank (Suncorp) closed its offer to repurchase as much as A$1 billion (US$1.03 billion) of outstanding September 2013 maturity government-guaranteed bonds, with A$883.2 million expected to be retired as a result. The offer covered two-thirds of the bank's total domestic guaranteed issuance which has not already matured.

SP AusNet priced a new Australian domestic transaction from its SPI Electricity & Gas Holdings (A-/A1) subsidiary on February 8. The company sold both a new seven-year maturity transaction and an increase to its existing June 2022 bond line, which it introduced in a A$205 million (US$210.9 million) deal last year.

Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) completed the bookbuild on Australia's first new retail debt offer of the year on February 6, having upsized the Basel III-compliant, tier one hybrid transaction from an initial A$500 million (US$514.5 million) to A$1.25 billion. The bank had said an issue of the smaller target volume would add approximately 16 basis points to its tier one capital, which at the end of its 2011/12 financial year stood at 10.3 per cent according to then-current Australian regulatory rules.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Sydney Branch (ICBC Sydney) (A/A1/A) priced its second-ever deal into the Australian domestic market on February 5, selling A$650 million (US675 million) of new three-year floating rate notes (FRNs). ICBC Sydney's previous Australian market deal came in July 2011, when it sold A$400 million (US$416.7 million) of three-year paper at 105 basis points over bank bills.