The primary market hit top gear today (Wednesday) as Bawag, Eika and NN Bank achieved outstanding results, after an earlier three deals on Monday and Tuesday and with CCDJ and CFF set to issue tomorrow, as “extraordinary” conditions paved the way for the busiest week since mid-January.

Syndicate banker said all three deals – ranging from five to 15 years, and €500m to €750m in size – went very well, noting the pricing with zero to negative new issue premiums and oversubscription levels of three to four times.

“We’re in this fantastic situation where everything works really well,” said one. “It’s hard to say which maturity works better, but obviously, the long end works very well at the moment.”

Another banker echoed this sentiment.

“They were all very solid, so it’s difficult to give one or another the crown,” he said.

Deals launched by UniCredit Bank Austria and SpareBank 1 Boligkreditt (SpaBol) yesterday (Tuesday) were trading marginally tighter, according to a syndicate banker, with a Caffil €1.5bn long seven year from Monday remaining around re-offer.

“It doesn’t seem that there’s any major change in pricing dynamics right now,” he added.

Another described the asset class as “bullet-proof”.

All of today’s new issues were teed up with mandate announcements yesterday.

Eika Boligkreditt leads Crédit Agricole, LBBW, Natixis, SEB and UBS went out this morning with guidance of the mid-swaps plus 12bp area for a €500m no-grow March 2028 covered bond. After around 35 minutes, books were reported as being over €1bn, excluding JLM interest, and after around an hour and 35 minutes, guidance was revised to 8bp+/-1bp, WPIR, on the back of over €1.5bn of demand, excluding JLM interest. It was ultimately priced at 7bp, on the back of over €1.5bn demand, including JLM interest, pre-reconciliation.

A syndicate banker away from the leads said the Norwegian issue, which is not CBPP3-eligible, had been shown the way by compatriot SpaBol with its €1bn seven year green covered bond at 7bp yesterday.

“It’s no surprise that they could get a good book,” he said, “and it’s almost standard – you start 5bp back from where you want to land, ramp up a very strong book, and then start pricing as tight as possible.

Syndicate bankers at and away from the leads put fair value at 9bp-9.5bp.

“It’s outstanding how they priced 2bp through the curve,” said a lead banker, “and exactly where SpaBol priced yesterday.”

While the book was not as substantial as the €2.5bn-plus of SpaBol’s €1bn trade, the level of subscription was still impressive given the smaller size of Eika’s deal, at €500m.

“Even though SpaBol has performed by 2bp-3bp since yesterday,” he added, “Eika still landed flat to their re-offer level, being a name less in focus from the Norwegians, and without offering this green element, so it’s a brilliant result.”

The €500m no-grow size gave some weight to its success, according to another syndicate banker away from the leads.

“Maybe if they took a larger size things would have been different,” he added, “but it’s not going to take away from this extraordinary market full of cash.”

Bawag PSK leads BNP Paribas, DZ, Erste, Helaba and LBBW went out this morning with guidance of the mid-swaps plus 12bp area for a euro benchmark-sized 10 year transaction. After around 40 minutes, books were reported as being over €1.5bn, excluding JLM interest, and after around an hour and 20 minutes, the guidance was revised to 8bp+/-1bp, WPIR, and the issue size set at €750m, on the back of over €2.5bn of demand, including €305m JLM interest. It was ultimately priced at 7bp, on the back of over €3bn of demand, including €305m JLM interest, pre-reconciliation.

The issuer had been eyeing a 10 year tenor for some time, according to a lead banker.

“They have had one or two deals in the past that were no walk in the park,” he said, “but this was different – the update was super quick, and the book size was huge.”

It is the Austrian issuer’s biggest ever book for a euro benchmark, according to a syndicate banker away from the leads, who was surprised at the magnitude of demand.

“Of all issuers today, Bawag is getting the biggest book?” he said. “Five years ago, you were not allowed to say that name.”

He put fair value at 7bp, implying no new issue premium.

“An Erste 10 year would probably print at around 5bp-6bp,” he added, “so this shows that the difference between national champions and smaller names is shrinking.”

Nationale-Nederlanden Bank NV (NN Bank) leads HSBC, LBBW, Natixis, Rabobank and UniCredit went out this morning with guidance of the mid-swaps plus 17bp area for a €500m no-grow 15 year soft bullet transaction. After around 30 minutes, books were reported as being over €1bn, excluding joint lead manager interest, and after around an hour and 20 minutes, the guidance was revised to 13bp+/-1bp, WPIR, on the back of €2bn orders, excluding JLM interest. The spread was ultimately set at 12bp, on the back of over €2.6bn demand, excluding JLM interest.

A lead banker said of the three transactions launched today, NN Bank’s was the strongest, given it had the longest tenor.

“Also if you see the development on its inaugural 10 year,” he added, “the size of the book was around €1bn bigger, so while this will include some opportunistic money looking for bonds, they’re continuing to build their investor base.”

Syndicate bankers at and away from the leads put fair value at 12bp, implying no new issue premium.

A syndicate banker said NN Bank’s switch to the soft bullet format helped it on pricing.

“They got a good book,” he said, “so changing the programme is clearly paying off.”

Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec (FCDQ, ticker CCDJ) is expected to launch a €500m no-grow five year covered bond tomorrow, after announcing its plans today.

The new issue will be its first euro benchmark since it launched a €500m eight year deal in November 2019. The last Canadian euro benchmark, a €750m three and a half year from CIBC, was launched on 20 March.

“The Canadians were heavily issuing at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis before the market went into lockdown,” said a lead banker. “Since then, we’re operating in a different environment.

“Spreads have come back nicely, and I think this is a good chance for CCDJ – who usually offer a bit of a pick-up versus their peers – to narrow that gap.”

Barclays, LBBW, RBC, Société Générale and UBS have the mandate.

Compagnie de Financement Foncier (CFF) is expected to launch a 10 year euro benchmark-sized covered bond tomorrow, after also announcing its plans today. The new issue will be the CFF’s second euro benchmark of the year, following a €1bn four year transaction in April.

According to pre-announcement comparables circulated by the leads, CFF September 2028 and November 2032 paper was at 6.5bp and 7.5bp, mid, respectively, and BPCE and Caffil May and June 2030s were at 5.5bp and 5.75bp, respectively.

HSBC, LBBW, Natixis, Santander, Scotiabank and UniCredit have the mandate.

Following SpaBol yesterday and Eika today, another Nordic name is said to be targeting a new issue next week, according to syndicate bankers.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank is meanwhile scheduled to finish a European non-deal roadshow today ahead of a potential debut covered bond. Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole have the roadshow mandate.