AOFM sells out of semi and Kangaroo holdings
The Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) has sold all its holdings of Australian state government and Kangaroo bonds, with its allocation to semis falling from A$3.82 billion (US$3.19 billion) as recently as the end of May this year to zero two months later. Its Kangaroo portfolio, which peaked at A$615 million at the turn of the year, was liquidated by the end of May.NIB prices A$300 million Kangaroo at tightest margin yet
As predicted at launch earlier in the day, Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) completed pricing of its A$300 million (US$245.67 million) new August 2014 Kangaroo bond at the tightest margin seen in the market so far in 2009 – 36 basis points over swap or 65.5 basis points over the benchmark June 2014 Australian government bond.Westpac prices A$2 billion five-year non-guaranteed deal
After a very quiet month for Aussie bank funding teams, Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) (AA/Aa1/AA-) has priced a self-led A$2 billion (US$1.67 billion) fixed and floating non-guaranteed five-year transaction. J.P. Morgan was co-manager on the deal.
Two more Kangaroos continue to chase pricing down
A brace of Kangaroo deals from August 12 have continued the trend for tightening margins for the supranational, sovereign and agency (SSA) asset class in Australia, with the A$300 million (US$248.94 million) 2015 tap from KfW Bankengruppe (KfW) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) offering low- to mid-40s basis points over swap and a new 2014 from Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) (AAA/Aaa) expected to offer an even tighter margin at its forthcoming pricing.