News
The state of New South Wales (NSW) and NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp) (both AAA/Aaa/AAA) had their ratings outlook improved to stable by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on the back of what the rating agency called a strong state budget. On the same day S&P affirmed its ratings and stable outlooks on Queensland and Queensland Treasury Corporation (both AA+/Aa1/AA+) after the state also issued its 2009/10 budget.
On June 12 Tabcorp Investments No.4, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tabcorp (BBB+) priced A$150 million (US$122 million) of floating rate bonds at 425 basis points over the three-month bank bill swap rate - the same level as the company's A$284 million of listed bonds sold on April 30.
On June 11 Citi Australia (A+/A2) debuted in the Australian government-guaranteed term funding market when it priced a total of A$1.3 billion (US$1.05 billion) of fixed and floating rate three-year notes. This is the first billion-plus dollar deal from a foreign subsidiary bank in Australia under the terms of the local sovereign guarantee.
On June 11 French social security debt amortisation agency, CADES (AAA/Aaa/AAA), became the sixth issuer to return to the Kangaroo market in 2009 with the pricing of a A$700 million (US$568 million) increase to it 7.5 per cent February 28 2013 bond. The increase was launched a day before with a minimum size of A$300 million.
Royal Bank of Scotland Australia Branch (RBS) (A+/Aa3/AA-) increased the size of its unguaranteed 2012 floating rate note (FRN) by A$400 million (US$324million) on June 12, bringing the total size of the line to A$1 billion just a day after initial launch and pricing.
Citigroup (Citi) (A+/A2) debuted in the Australian government guaranteed term funding market on June 11 with the launch of a minimum A$1 billion (US$802.8 billion) three year transaction which would be the first billion-plus dollar deal of from a non-Australian bank under the terms of the local sovereign guarantee.
France’s social security debt amortisation agency, CADES (AAA/Aaa/AAA), became the sixth issuer to return to the Kangaroo market in 2009 with the June 10 launch of an increase to its 2013 line. The tap has a minimum size of A$300 million (US$241.77 million) – a volume which would double the outstanding amount in this line.
The second Kauri deal in a week was priced on June 9 as the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) (AAA/Aaa) increased its 2015 line by NZ$100 million (US$61.85 million), bringing the total amount on issue in that maturity to NZ$200 million and bringing NIB’s total outstanding Kauri volume to NZ$850 million.
Having increased the size of its new 2014 maturity Kangaroo bond to A$1 billion (US$800 million) on June 4, the European Investment Bank (EIB) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) says it is looking at a minimum term of five years for Kangaroo issuance but that demand is only starting to fall into place for longer-dated securities.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) (AA/Aa1/AA) priced a total of US$2 billion of three-year fixed and floating rate bonds on June 3 under the Australian government guarantee, with the issuer saying strong demand for guaranteed product among offshore investors continues to make it a more attractive source of funds than unguaranteed deals.
A new 2014 maturity priced by Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) on June 3 reopened the Kauri market for 2009, becoming the first deal in the market since November last year. The NZ$150 million (US$97.95 million) 2014 bond priced at 31.5 basis points over government bonds, which rate sheet data suggests equates to mid-50s basis points over swap.
On June 2 Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) (AA/Aa1/AA-) topped up its July 2012 fixed and floating rate non-guaranteed bonds to bring the total on issue in this maturity to A$2 billion (US$1.6 billion). The A$50 million of fixed rate and A$250 million of floating rate bonds priced at 120 basis points over the bank bill swap rate (BBSW) and swap.