News
Western Australia (WA)’s economy is continuing an upward trajectory, with increased mining revenues and a favourable reallocation of goods and services tax (GST) among the main drivers of fiscal improvement. The state is now forecasting a fiscal surplus in 2019/20, one year earlier than expected.
Investa Commercial Property Fund (ICPF) has closed a A$170 million (US$122.3 million) green loan having tagged its entire asset portfolio against the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) low-carbon-building criteria emission thresholds. The facility is bilateral with ANZ, but the borrower says green loans should be able to find new liquidity and pave the way for more downline green-bond issuance.
On 17 January, Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) launched a new, self-led 5.25-year benchmark senior-unsecured domestic deal. The forthcoming transaction will come in either or both fixed- and floating-rate formats and has indicative price guidance of 115 basis points area over swap benchmarks. Pricing is expected on the day of launch.
ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) became the first non-UK bank to execute a sterling covered bond referencing an alternative benchmark rate on 11 January. The deal also takes Australian-issuer engagement with alternative reference rates a step further, as the longest maturity – and by far the largest – deal to reference an alternative benchmark printed by an Australian issuer to date.