Five new benchmark-sized euro covered bonds hit the market this (Monday) morning after last week’s surge, but bankers said conditions appeared softer, citing slower execution, lower oversubscription and less tightening, although only a UniCredit FRN was deemed underwhelming.

Today’s deals come after issuers last week sold Eu8.25bn of benchmark covered bond supply in four days. Participants had noted that momentum eased as the week progressed, but anticipated another wave of supply to arrive today, with BPM and UniCredit having announced mandates on Friday.

Syndicate officials said that updates had been slower to emerge from each of today’s trades than from those last week, while adding that some of the results seemed less impressive in terms of the final price and demand.

“Today we are seeing issuers offering similar sized new issue premiums compared to last week, but they are not getting the same levels of oversubscription nor benefiting from as much traction to tighten spreads,” said one. “Most deals are going OK, but they’re not exactly blowing the doors off.”

Another syndicate official agreed that the market was weaker.

“It is natural that updates will be slower and some prices will not move so much when things are this busy,” he said. “You have to put it into context – with so much supply in such a short time, investors will be pickier.

“However, some deals – like LBBW’s – do not seem to have been affected too much by this.”

LBBW was able to price a Eu1bn 10 year public sector Pfandbrief at 11bp through mid-swaps, making it the tightest priced Eu1bn-plus 10 year covered bond issue, according to a syndicate official at one of the leads.

“We are very glad to successfully bring such a deal to a market with this high traffic,” he said.

Leads Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, LBBW, Natixis and UniCredit launched the deal with initial price thoughts of minus 8bp, moving to guidance of minus 10bp before fixing the re-offer at minus 11bp with orders of Eu1.1bn.

The lead syndicate official also cited in particular the quality of the order book as being a success in such a crowded market.

“We have seen a very nice book build despite participants being busy this morning,” he said. “This led to a slower process – unlike some from last week, we were not done in an hour – but strong growth and a nice response to the guidance allowed us to print at the upper end of the issuer’s targeted size.”

The book featured accounts that had not been seen in recent Pfandbrief trades, the lead syndicate official added, including leading bids from insurance companies.

The deal comes after Eu500m 10 year Pfandbriefe priced at 13bp through mid-swaps from Commerzbank and BayernLB last Monday and Thursday, respectively.

Société Générale SFH leads Banca IMI, BBVA, Danske, Natixis and SG launched a Eu500m no-grow seven year issue for the French bank with IPTs of the minus 5bp area, before issuing guidance of minus 7bp plus or minus 1bp on the back of books over Eu700m. The re-offer was set at minus 8bp, with the books closing at Eu900m.

A syndicate official at one of the leads noted that the books were smaller than those built during some recent French trades.

“However, we knew from the start that we were not targeting as large a size, so we were able to begin the pricing a little more aggressively,” he said. “The deal is in good shape and this is a good result.”

Last week syndicate officials saw a Eu1bn 10 year issue from Caffil as struggling to find demand after it was priced 5.5bp through OATs, prompting some investors to remain on the sidelines.

The lead syndicate official said the Société Générale’s new issue came around 3bp back of OATs, while offering a new issue premium of around 6bp.

Meanwhile, syndicate officials away from a Eu500m no-grow five year FRN for UniCredit said its pricing and demand was below what they would have expected, although they suggested the lower level of demand for the paper was not unusual for a floating rate note.

Leads Crédit Agricole, Credit Suisse, HSBC, UBS and UniCredit priced the Italian issuer’s FRN at 7bp over three month Euribor, in line with IPTs and guidance, with books approaching Eu500m including lead manager interest.

“That is probably a bit disappointing,” said a syndicate official away from the leads. “However, FRNs never really have the largest books.”

Banca Popolare di Milano leads Banca Akros, Barclays, Mediobanca, SG and UBS meanwhile priced a Eu1bn seven year issue for the Italian bank at 25bp over mid-swaps, in line with guidance, with books closing at over Eu1.25bn. The deal had been launched with initial price thoughts of the high 20s area.

The deal is the first from a new programme, and the issuer’s first benchmark covered bond since 2011.

Lloyds Bank gathered around Eu1.5bn of orders for a Eu1.25bn (£917m) seven year issue after leads BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Lloyds, UBS and UniCredit went out with IPTs of the mid-swaps plus 12bp area and fixed the spread at 10bp, in line with guidance.

The UK bank’s last euro benchmark covered bond was a Eu1.5bn five year issue on 15 July, with the issuer selling a senior unsecured deal last week. The issuer also launched two sterling benchmark covered bonds earlier in the year – printing a £1bn three year FRN in January and a £500m seven year issue in March.