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On 21 February, BNG Bank (AAA/Aaa/AAA) launched a minimum A$25 million (US$16.5 million) increase to its July 2028 Kangaroo bond. Indicative price guidance for the forthcoming transaction is 50 basis points area over semi-quarterly swap, equivalent to 48.25 basis points area over Australian Commonwealth government bond. Pricing is expected on the day of launch, according to Mizuho Securities.
On 21 February, Pepper Group (Pepper) mandated National Australia Bank for a refinancing of the Class A1-u2 notes from its PRS 20 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) deal. The tranche has indicative volume of A$105.7 million (US$70 million), credit enhancement of 47.3 per cent and weighted average life of 1.8 years. The deal is expected to launch in the week beginning 9 March.
Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) broke its longest drought of syndicated issuance since it began this method in 2009 with its 19 February transaction. The deal received robust support from offshore and real-money investors.
In the final weeks of 2019, two letters were on the lips of all participants in the Australian dollar high-grade bond market: QE. With successive rate cuts bringing the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) close to hitting its lower bound, it is understandable that attention has turned to what might be beyond the end of the road for monetary policy.
Government-sector issuers are among Australasia’s most active in the green, social and sustainability (GSS) bond space. They are also responding to increasing investor demand for entity-level environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments and say they are well placed to provide these despite some negative headlines.
On 20 February, AMP Bank revealed plans to engage investors regarding a potential residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) deal from its Progress programme. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Deutsche Bank, Macquarie Bank, MUFG Securities, National Australia Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have been mandated as lead managers.
A surfeit of local and offshore demand for long-dated paper prompted another Australian corporate to execute a 12-year domestic deal. General Property Trust (GPT) says the tenor suited its debt maturity profile and interest from a cornerstone investor prompted its decision to execute.
BNG Bank (AAA/Aaa/AAA) launched a minimum A$20 million (US$13.4 million) increase to its April 2029 Kangaroo bond on 20 February. The forthcoming deal is being marketed at 51 basis points area over semi-quarterly swap, equivalent to 49.4 basis points area over Australian Commonwealth government bond. Pricing is expected on the day of launch, according to TD Securities.