French issuer BPCE SFH was in the market today (Thursday) with a 10 year deal following covered bonds for Crédit Agricole on Wednesday and CRH on Tuesday. The UK’s Abbey National Treasury Services is also in the market, with a five year.

The new issues come amid signs of waning investor appetite, according to some syndicate officials. One said that he had the impression that the cash investors had built up over the summer had been exhausted and that the new issues that were in the market yesterday, save one for Royal Bank of Scotland, went slower than those in the preceding days.

“I think it would make sense to take a step back,” he said.

Another syndicate banker also said he had the impression that many investors had at least temporarily satisfied their demand, and that they needed a few days to process their investments.

“I would have waited until next week for another French deal,” he said.

However, although the new issue premium included in the spread on BPCE’s deal was not large, he added, it seemed to be going well.

Another syndicate banker said that the market was feeling heavy following high issuance volumes, with issuers aiming to take as much size as possible from the market. But wide spreads between covered bonds and senior unsecured debt were compelling issuers to opt for the secured funding instrument.

BNP Paribas, Citi Group, Commerzbank, Lloyds, Natixis and NordLB priced BPCE’s 10 year obligations de financement de l’habitat transaction at the tight end of the guidance of 100bp-105bp over, at 100bp. The leads closed the books at 1300 CET, with an order book of Eu1.4bn.

The size had not been determined by the time The Covered Bond Report went to press, thought a syndicate official from one of the leads suggested it could be Eu1.25bn.

“It’s going very well,” he said. “We’ve seen very strong demand from insurance companies.”

A syndicate official away from the leads said BPCE offered a very attractive spread.

“It’s well priced, good quality, and I believe the order book will have good granularity and high quality investors will be in the book,” he said.

Crédit Agricole Home Loan SFH yesterday (Wednesday) sold a Eu1.25bn five year that was the first French standalone new issue, after Caisse de Refinancement de l’Habitat sold a Eu1.5bn 10 year on Tuesday.

Leads Barclays Capital, Bayerische Landesbank, Deutsche Bank and DZ Bank fixed pricing at 78bp over mid-swaps, the middle of guidance of the 78bp over area.

“We priced it off the January 2016 and the March 2017 and added some 15bp new of issue concession, which was fair pricing given current market conditions,” said Christoph Alenfeld, syndicate official at DZ Bank.

Books were opened at 0930 CET and were around Eu1.25bn by 1215 CET before being closed at Eu1.45bn.

“We would have accepted more orders,” said Alenfeld, “but Eu1.45bn is something we can proudly present to the public.”

Banks took 44%, central banks/agencies 24%, asset managers 20%, insurance companies 10%, and pension funds 2%. Germany/Austria took 25%, the UK/Ireland 24%, France 20%, Asia 12%, the Benelux 8%, Scandinavia 8%, others 1%, and Switzerland 1%.

Caisse de Refinancement de l’Habitat reopened the French sector on Tuesday, with a Eu1.5bn 10 year deal led by Barclays, Crédit Agricole, LBBW, Natixis and Société Générale. The deal was priced at mid-swaps plus 85bp, in the middle of guidance of the 85bp over area.

“Once again the deal shows that CRH can access the market in tough conditions,” Henry Raymond, chairman and chief executive officer of CRH, told The Covered Bond Report. “At the beginning I thought that the spread was very high, but it was necessary to pay such a level to reach such an amount.

“I remember, at the beginning of 2009, I was afraid because CRH issued a long term bond at 10 years with a spread of 150bp, and in that time it was awful for us,” he added. “But some time afterwards, I met with some investors and they remembered not the spread, but the fact it was possible for us to access the market.

Raymond said that secondary CRH spreads only moved around a basis point when French bank stocks were under severe pressure in August.

“The market is discovering our actual status,” he said, “which is that our equity belongs to the French banking system and we benefit from the cross-commitment of the French banking system. CRH is not one name, but the name of the French banking system.

“This is why it is possible to think a lot of investors have confidence in the soundness of the French banking system.”

Raymond said that while the deal enjoyed strong support from French investors – with domestic accounts taking almost two-thirds of the paper – demand was well spread, taking in German, Asian and UK accounts, too.