News
The New Zealand Debt Management Office (NZDMO) says feedback from investors led it to initiate discussion within New Zealand government circles about committing to a minimum supply of sovereign debt on issue. New Zealand is approaching a forecast period of strong budget performance, and by maintaining bond supply the NZDMO hopes to support confidence in an actively traded market.
Aurizon Network (Aurizon)’s return to domestic issuance, nearly four years after its debut, is rated by buy- and sell-side deal sources as a relative-value success – allowing for a more than three-times oversubscription. The issuer says its confidence in the Australian dollar market was renewed by the pace of local deal flow during 2017.
While Australia’s corporate market appears to be more willing than ever to engage with longer-dated supply, a plurality of domestic fund managers say they expect to shorten portfolio duration. Investors tell KangaNews the portfolio impact of longer-dated corporate supply can be managed, however – allowing them to respond to issuers’ desire to add tenor to their debt profiles.
The annual post-budget funding update released by Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) on 14 June projects a lower issuance task for 2017/18 than previously anticipated, but a ramping up of issuance in the back part of the current decade.
In the wake of its first domestic deal in more than two years, Holcim Finance Australia (Holcim)’s lead managers attest to the strength of international and domestic demand for this issuer. They suggest momentum was helped by the limited volume of triple-B-band issuance during 2017 as well as the global name and positioning of Holcim’s parent and guarantor, LafargeHolcim.
Australia’s resurgent securitisation market received a further boost at the start of June as Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) became the first big-four bank of the year to price a residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) deal. Recent deals continue to demonstrate the evolution of demand for Australian securitisation across investor geography and credit level, issuers say.
Rob Nicholl, Canberra-based chief executive at the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM), used a 30 May speech to Australian Business Economists (ABE) to predict “a strong possibility of heightened geopolitical uncertainty” over the coming year. But he also offered insights into the AOFM’s global investor base to support his claim that the issuer is well positioned for future volatility.
KangaNews is pleased to present the results of its 2017 Fixed-Income Research Poll. This is the only independent, specialist poll of fixed-income investors' views on relevant research in the Australian market. This year marks the seventh consecutive year the poll has been running, and like the previous year 2017 broke a new record in terms of responses. More than 90 legitimate votes were received from qualifying institutional investors.
Reverse enquiry spurred Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac)’s return to the domestic covered-bond market with the first Australian dollar benchmark covered bond from a major bank this year. Westpac printed A$2 billion (US$1.49 billion) of 5.25-year covered bonds on 24 May.
KangaNews is pleased to present the results of its 2017 Fixed-Income Research Poll. This is the only independent, specialist poll of fixed-income investors' views on relevant research in the Australian market. This year marks the seventh consecutive year the poll has been running, and like the previous year 2017 broke a new record in terms of responses. More than 90 legitimate votes were received from qualifying institutional investors.
Kiwibank confirmed on May 29 that two instruments it initially issued as regulatory capital securities will no longer qualify as such, following confirmation of a preliminary view on these securities’ status by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). The disclosure of the preliminary view caused angst in the New Zealand market in March as it came between pricing and settlement of a Kiwibank senior Kangaroo deal, which the issuer was forced to pull.
Liberty Financial (Liberty) printed an upsized and oversubscribed senior-unsecured transaction despite falling victim to an S&P Global Ratings (S&P) action that downgraded the issuer alongside 22 other Australian financial institutions. Liberty triggered a 50 basis points step-up built into its programme to retain investors, and says the higher margin on offer may have attracted additional bids.