News
South Australian Government Financing Authority (SAFA) (AA/Aa1) has printed A$1 billion (US$766.7 billion) in a new syndicated domestic benchmark transaction. Indicative pricing on the September 2022-maturity notes was EFP plus 71-72 basis points and 47-48 basis points over Australian Commonwealth government bond.
In the wake of two of the largest Australian residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) transactions of this year, both issuers attribute their success to post-Brexit market conditions and a dearth of high-quality securitisation supply in Australia. Notably, both transactions saw higher participation from real-money accounts than anticipated.
On August 16, Mizuho Bank Sydney Branch (Mizuho Sydney) (A/A1) priced A$600 million (US$462.2 million) in a new, August 2019-maturity senior-unsecured domestic benchmark deal. Initial price guidance on the transaction was in the area of 115 basis points over three-month bank bill swap rate (BBSW) or semi-quarterly swap. According to KangaNews data, Mizuho Sydney's last benchmark-sized foray into the domestic market was in Mary last year when it printed A$700 million (US$535.1 million) of five-year floating rate notes at 105 basis points over BBSW.
On August 16, GPT RE (A/A3) – the responsible entity of General Property Trust (GPT) – printed A$150 million (US$115.7 million) in a new, 10-year domestic Australian dollar transaction. According to KangaNews data, GPT last publicly issued in the Australian domestic market in September 2014. This six-year, A$150 million (US$115.1 million) transaction priced at 120 basis points over semi-quarterly swap.
Suncorp-Metway (Suncorp) (A+/A1/A+) printed a new, domestic covered bond with a 10-year maturity on August 16. According to KangaNews data, the A$350 million (US$268.1 million) deal is the issuer's first covered-bond transaction of more than five-year tenor; it has sold A$3.65 billion (US$2.8 billion) of three- and five-year domestic covered bonds since its 2012 debut issue.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank printed A$700 million (US$537 million) in its first prime residential mortgage-backed securities transaction of 2016. Meanwhile, ANZ Banking Group printed A$2.7 billion in a dual-tranche domestic transaction - the largest Australian domestic bank deal since National Australia bank printed A$3.2 billion in May this year.
On August 12, Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) (AAA/Aaa) increased its September 2025 Kauri bond by NZ$50 million (US$35.9 million). According to KangaNews data, the line was introduced in August last year for volume of NZ$75 million and pricing of 32 basis points over mid-swap. The line has be tapped a further two times – most recently in April this year for NZ$25 million at 63 basis points over mid-swap.