News
Market participants are confident Telstra Group’s return to the Australian dollar market will be a catalyst for an issuance resurgence after a dry 2022. Deal sources note the extremely attractive price for the borrower and say the transaction’s five-year tenor is likely not the duration limit of demand in a newly buoyant market.
Australian primary deal flow showed no sign of slowing as the calendar flipped to March, including a deal from Telstra Group that market sources believe points to a more positive period ahead for corporate supply. Meanwhile, National Australia Bank found an ongoing receptive market for tier-two issuance, Queensland Treasury Corporation priced Australia’s first green bond of the new year and a clutch of securitisation deals priced.
Increased engagement with sustainability is leading to growing awareness of greenwashing risk – the potential for environmental credentials to be overstated or misrepresented. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is prioritising greenwashing surveillance and enforcement, supported for the first time by a more coherent policy backdrop.
Queensland Treasury Corporation says offering the first semi-government green-bond syndication of the year only increased demand for new issuance from the sector – particularly from international accounts, which bought around one-third of the deal. Bids comfortably outstripped final volume even when pricing tightened to the left end of the marketing range.
