News
Since 2012, Korean-origin issuance has quietly become one of the mainstays of the sub-triple-A Kangaroo market – and some of the same borrowers have also started to make their presence felt in New Zealand. There is a lingering sense of untapped potential in these issuers, some of which say they increasingly view the Australian dollar as a strategic funding currency.
During this year, KangaNews is speaking to the winners of the individual categories of the KangaNews Awards 2016. Andrea Dore, lead financial officer and head of funding at World Bank, discusses the institutional evolution and personal drive that saw her win the Kangaroo Market Achievement Award.
As part of a year-long project to gauge the opinions of international credit investors on Australasian-origin product, KangaNews and Westpac Institutional Bank took the third part of the series to London in April. UK-based investors share their views on geopolitical risk, managing credit in a continuing low-yield environment and investing in bonds issued by Australian credits.
Asciano Finance netted A$350 million (US$258.2 million) in a new domestic deal during the first week of May. Final pricing on the upsized transaction was 15 basis points inside initial price thoughts. Elsewhere, Treasury Corporation of Victoria revealed it will be back to borrowing, disclosing a A$8.3 billion expected funding task for 2017/18.
On May 4, Bluestone Group (Bluestone) revealed plans to engage with investors in relation to its Sapphire residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) programme. Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Macquarie Bank are arranging the forthcoming updates, after which a potential Australian dollar RMBS transaction may follow.
The H1 2017 edition of the Fitch Ratings (Fitch)-KangaNews Fixed-Income Investor Survey has a domestic risk factor with a clear lead at the top of the agenda for Australian fund managers. The domestic buy side is increasingly concerned about the housing market, though it remains fairly confident about credit quality and spread direction.
On 4 May, the 10-year domestic deal for Asciano (BBB-/Baa3), on behalf of Pacific National, progressed to launch. The forthcoming deal has indicative volume of A$200 million (US$148.5 million) and price guidance of 275 basis points area over semi-quarterly swap or bank bills.
IMB Bank revealed on 3 May that it is taking indications of interest on Illawarra 2017-1, an indicative A$300 million (US$225.7 million) residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issue. The deal is structured as a five-tranche funding and capital-relief RMBS with price guidance disclosed on all tranches.
On 3 May, Asciano (BBB-/Baa3), on behalf of Pacific National, revealed it has started taking indications of interest on a new 10-year domestic deal. The potential transaction may emerge in either or both of fixed- or floating-rate format and has initial price guidance of 275 basis points area over semi-quarterly swap or bank bills.
Treasury Corporation of Victoria (TCV) has disclosed an expected funding task of A$8.3 billion (US$6.3 billion) for 2017/18, significantly up on recent years as the state government continues to focus on infrastructure investment even after the asset-sales cycle has largely played out. Analyst response to the Victoria state budget, delivered on 2 May, is broadly positive despite the increased deficit though TCV spreads widened on budget day.