News
The Australian domestic corporate bond market finally got underway on May 12 as Airservices Australia (AsA) (AAA) priced a dual-tranche, A$400 million (US$293.2 million) fixed-rate transaction. On May 11 the deal's joint lead managers, ANZ and National Australia Bank, revealed initial price guidance was in the area of 90-95 basis points and 100-105 basis points over semi-quarterly swap respectively.
On May 12, European Investment Bank (EIB) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) priced a tap of its August 2026 Kangaroo bond. According to KangaNews data, the line was introduced in February for volume of A$150 million (US$110.5 million) and pricing of 52 basis points over semi-quarterly swap.
ASB Bank has added NZ$300 million (US$220.8 million) to the May 2021 domestic bond it introduced in November last year. The debut of the line being tapped was a NZ$350 million transaction which priced at 110 basis points over swap according to KangaNews data.
The new, five-year senior-unsecured benchmark issue launched by Bank of Queensland (BOQ) (A-/A3/A-) on May 10 progressed to pricing on May 11. According to KangaNews data, the transaction is BOQ's second senior-unsecured deal of the year after the issuer priced A$400 million (US$292.2 million) of 2018 floating-rate notes at 100 basis points over BBSW in February.
The benchmark domestic deal priced by National Australia Bank (NAB) on May 6 benefited from broad-based support from a range of domestic and international investor sectors, the issuer says. Final volume of A$3.2 billion (US$2.3 billion) – a record for NAB in the domestic market – was an upside surprise for the bank, and gives it funding flexibility in the second half of its financial year.
KfW Bankengruppe (AAA/Aaa/AAA) priced an increase to its September 2026 Kangaroo bond on May 10. The tap adds to the A$200 million (US$146.4 million) priced when KfW introduced this line in March this year, at 66 basis points over Australian Commonwealth government securities.
On May 10, Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) (AA-/Aa2/AA-) revealed it has launched a self-led increase to its existing June 2026 senior-unsecured domestic line. The increase is expected to be in the region of at least A$50 million (US$36.5 million).
Province of Manitoba (Manitoba) (AA/Aa2) priced an increase to its June 2026 Kangaroo bond on May 9. According to KangaNews data, the line was introduced in December last year for volume of A$70 million (USD$51.5 million) and pricing 85 basis points over semi-quarterly swap. The line was tapped for the first time in January of this year for A$50 million at 75 basis points over swap.
Chorus (BBB/Baa2) priced a new, five-year deal in the New Zealand market on May 4. An announcement made on April 13 revealed the volume of the transaction to be NZ$400 million (US$272.2 million) with a coupon of 4.12% per annum.