20 International Financing Review March 21 2020UNNAMED HIGH-YIELD PORTFOLIO MANAGER, P14“When traders are not on the desk ... they are probably
going to be less apt to add risk in this environment”
Capital markets week ahead:
Bahrain, AMS, Tesco
WAITING GAME It’s expected to be another
quiet week in the capital markets, with
many issuers still digesting the impact of
the coronavirus outbreak on their
BUSINESSESûANDûTHEûWIDERûlNANCIALû
market. A few names – including
Citigroup, Walt Disney, JP Morgan and
UPS – dipped their toes into bond markets
last week but all had to pay eye-watering
concessions to get their deals away.
While asset purchases and commercial
paper programmes from central banks
have eased some liquidity worries, some
issuers are facing big redemptions this
year and will be keen to use any windows
of stability to raise cash. More than
US$500bn of investment-grade debt
MATURESûOVERûTHEûNEXTûYEARû"UTûlRSTûTHEYû
will have to get hold of their bankers,
which isn’t as straightforward as it once
was.GULF STREAM Talks continue between
Bahrain and its banks after the Gulf
kingdom asked to borrow US$1bn. The
loan request comes after plans to issue
bonds were suspended amid volatile
market conditions. The tiny oil-producing
nation, which is rated junk by all three
major credit ratings agencies, is seeking
funds amid a slump in global oil prices
WHICHûISûHURTINGûITSûlNANCESMAKING SENSE? Subscription continues
on the SFr1.75bn (€1.65bn) rights issue
FROMû!-3 ûWHICHûWILLûBEûUSEDûTOûlNANCEû
its acquisition of German lighting
company Osram. Shares in the Austrian
sensor manufacturer fell below the offerprice on Tuesday, just one day after
subscription opened. It runs until March
30, with a result expected the following
day.EVERY LITTLE HELPS A US$7.25bn loan
backing the purchase of the Asia business
of UK supermarket chain Tesco by Thai
billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont goes
into senior syndication. Underwriters JP
Morgan, Siam Commercial Bank and UBS
are inviting banks to participate with
minimum tickets of US$1bn across two
tranches. The loan is the largest
syndicated facility ever done in Thailand.STRESSED OUT The Bank of England will
update the country’s banks on plans to
bring in new IFRS 9 rules that force them
to provision for expected losses on loans
before they are actually incurred. The
industry has appealed for a delay given
the current crisis amid fears it could
worsen the situation for banks. It has said
it will listen, and has already cancelled
planned stressed tests.MOTOR HOME A US$130m loan for the real
estate subsidiary of Vietnamese carmaker
Truong Hai Auto goes into general
syndication. Maybank is mandated lead
arranger and bookrunner on the 30-
month amortising loan, which has a
US$30m greenshoe option. The
transaction has an average life of 1.9 years
and pays an interest margin of 250bp over
Libor.SWISS CHEESE Credit Suisse publishes its
annual report on Wednesday, which
should offer a glimpse into how much
senior managers were paid last year. It
comes after the Swiss bank, which lost
its chief executive Tidjane Thiam to a
spying scandal last month, said that
its trading businesses were holding up
well despite the coronavirus crisis that
HASûSENTûTURMOILûTHROUGHûlNANCIALû
markets.LAST WEEK IN NUMBERS
3% – Yield that Italian 10-year
government bonds hit on
Wednesday, amid a sell-off in the
market
€750bn – Asset purchases planned
by the ECB under its pandemic
emergency purchase programme
51 – Bid price on UniCredit’s
€1.25bn 3.875% perp non-call June
2027 AT1 that priced a month ago
1.1404 – Low for US dollar-sterling
spot rate, the lowest level for the
pound in 35 years5 IFR PM 2325 p 13 - 22 .indd 20 20 / 03 / 2020 20 : 29 : 17