France’s Caisse de Refinancement de l’Habitat increased an outstanding February 2023 Eu1.7bn trade today (Wednesday) by Eu450m.

Leads Crédit Agricole, Natixis and SG priced the transaction in line with the initial guidance of 105bp over mid-swaps.

The outstanding bond was trading at 100bp/95bp over in the secondary market, according to a syndicate official at one of the leads. He said the issuer was paying a limited new issue premium of 5bp.

“We pulled the trigger this morning without any lead orders,” he added, “but with a feeling that today would be a day with opportunities for CRH after we opened books on a Saint-Gobain dual tranche, which flew from the outset.”

The French construction materials group sold a corporate bond this morning.

The syndicate official said that distribution was mainly driven by French institutional investors and one account based in Germany.

A syndicate banker away from the tap played down its significance, suggesting that it should not be taken as a sign that the market was open.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said.