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The inaugural Australian Fixed-Income Investor Survey, published by Fitch Ratings (Fitch) and KangaNews on April 2, suggests Australian investors see the situation in China as the biggest risk factor to domestic credit markets over the next year. However, responses elsewhere suggest the investor base remains relatively comfortable with the state of the market, for instance predicting gradual contraction to be the prevailing credit spread dynamic.
On April 2, Svenska Handelsbanken (AA-/Aa3/AA-) priced a new five-year transaction in what will be the borrower's inaugural Australian dollar deal. The transaction follows a number of debut Kangaroo transactions in 2014, the latest of which was from First Gulf Bank which priced a A$250 million (US$231.2 million) five-year deal on March 25. That transaction had pricing of 177 basis points over the Australian government bond.
Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) (AA+/Aa1) priced a new AUD-denominated fixed-rate benchmark syndicated line on April 2. According to KangaNews data, the new line extends the borrower's domestic curve out to July 2025 from its previously longest maturity of July 2024.
Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) (AAA/Aaa) priced an increase to its February 2024 Kangaroo bond on April 1. According to KangaNews data, the this is the fifth increase to this line. It was most recently tapped on March 6, for A$100 million (US$92.4 million) at 60.5 basis points over the Australian government bond.
On April 1, Volkswagen Financial Services Australia (Volkswagen Australia) (A-/A3) priced a new four-year domestic deal. The transaction was increased to A$250 million (US$231.8 million) from a minimum A$100 million launch size. The new transaction priced at a margin of 90 basis points over semi-quarterly swap after indicative pricing in the area of 95 basis points over semi-quarterly swap.
ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) completed its offer of tier-one issue securities on April 1, also revealing that the issue has been further upsized to A$1.61 billion (US$1.49 billion) from A$1.30 billion, after initially being launched at A$1.00 billion. ANZ Capital Notes 2 set its margin at 325 basis points over bank bills – the tight end of a 15 basis point marketing range – on February 18.
New Zealand's Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA) has initiated the search for a new chief executive following the announcement of the forthcoming retirement of its first-ever leader, Philip Combes. Combes tells KangaNews the agency is in good shape for the future, with offshore ownership of its bonds in particular having seen a significant increase since the middle of last year.