Syndicate officials said today (Friday) that any supply next week will be led by opportunistic issuance, with no announced mandates in the pipeline even if the market is “ripe and ready” for new issues and peripheral deals in particular.

The February market finally kicked into gear this week with Eu4bn of new deals, as BNP Paribas, Credito Emiliano, Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB), Helaba and KBC Bank all came to market.

Helaba priced its first new benchmark of the year, and the largest German Pfandbrief since January 2013, a Eu1bn five year. BNP also issued a Eu1bn five year covered bond, while DKB issued a Eu500m seven year, and KBC and Credito Emiliano each issued a Eu750m five year transactions.

Syndicate officials said the transactions generally went well, with one official describing Credito Emiliano’s, which closed with Eu2.5bn of orders and 120 investors, as “madness”.

He went on to add that he felt that now was not a bad time for peripheral names to consider issuing.

“The market should be ripe and ready,” he said. “There is a hunt for yield right now and the peripheral markets offer good access points and spread levels.”

Among this week’s deals, KBC was noted by one official as “the weakest link” in what he described as an otherwise strong set of performances.

“The KBC deal is currently languishing in the re-offer zone,” he said. “However, I expect it to slowly grind tighter.

“DKB is trading positively,” he added, “and is 1bp to 2bp tighter.”

A syndicate official in Frankfurt suggested that the run-up to Karnival season could affect German-centric activity later on next week.

“From Thursday (27 February) to 4 March, I’m expecting things to be slow,” he said. “The traditional covered bond market in Germany should return on 5 March, and from Thursday onwards I would advise against issuance until then.”

However, another Frankfurt-based banker felt that there would be no impact from the “regionally limited” Karnival season, with offices in the affected areas likely to be suitably manned.

“The one thing that may have a slight impact on any issuance next week will be the impact of the IMN conference in London,” he said, referring to the industry event taking place on Thursday and Friday.