UniCredit HVB had the market to itself today (Monday) and attracted over €2bn of orders to a €1bn 11 year deal, but Caffil and Helaba have mandated dual-tranchers due tomorrow in what is expected to be a very busy week in euros, and Yorkshire is set to launch the first social sterling covered bond.

Five tranches from four issuers totalling €3.75bn hit the market last week after New Year and before a public holiday in many parts of Europe on Thursday. Syndicate bankers expect this week to be more crowded, with Caffil and Helaba each today announcing two tranche trades that are expected to be launched tomorrow, and one banker said he is expecting as many as eight to 10 benchmarks.

UniCredit Bank AG (HVB) pre-empted the anticipated activity by announcing its mandate on Friday.

“We have not seen that many issuers take the weekend risk in a couple of months,” said a syndicate banker away from the leads, “so I think this is more a function of heavy supply in January. The market was very positive towards the four transactions we saw last week, so they were able to take this risk.

“And they somehow managed to have a window on their own, at least in covered bonds, which you’re not normally able to achieve at this time of year.”

This morning, leads BayernLB, DZ, ING, SG and UniCredit opened books with guidance of the mid-swaps plus 4bp area for the January 2033 euro benchmark-sized mortgage Pfandbrief, expected rating Aaa. After around an hour, they reported books above €1.35bn, including €255m in joint lead manager interest. After an hour and 25 minutes, the spread was fixed at mid-swaps flat on the back of an order book above €1.8bn. The size was set at €1bn on the back of orders above €1.8bn, and the final order book was above €2bn, including €275m in JLM interest.

“It was a very good, very professionally executed trade,” said a lead banker. “It was just spot on for the day, and my impression is that the issuer is very happy with the outcome, as 11 years is not exactly the standard maturity, and so are we.”

A syndicate banker away from the leads agreed the deal had clearly been well received, in spite of the “odd” maturity.

Syndicate bankers at and away from the leads put fair value at minus 1bp, implying a 1bp new issue premium.

“We knew that was the right pricing, so there was not a lot to debate,” said another lead banker. “We didn’t see a lot of sensitivity in the book, which grew quite smoothly.”

She added that banks had taken a “big chunk” of the trade, in spite of the long maturity, while Germany was, as expected, the biggest taker, with around 60% of the bonds.

Caisse Française de Financement Local (Caffil) is planning €750m no-grow 10 year and €500m no-grow 20 year public sector obligations foncières via BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, DZ and SG.

According to pre-announcement comparables circulated by the leads, Caffil March 2031s and January 2033s were quoted at plus 1bp, mid, while its February 2040s were at 3.5bp and its October 2046s at 7.5bp.

Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) is meanwhile planning euro benchmark 5.5 year mortgage and 15 year public sector Pfandbriefe via Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, DZ, Erste, Helaba, Natixis and UniCredit.

In sterling, Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) is planning a £500m (€598m) no-grow five year Sonia-linked social bond that will be the first sterling covered bond from a UK issuer in a sustainable format. Barclays, BNP Paribas, NatWest and UBS have the mandate.

YBS issued the first covered bond in green, social or sustainable format from the UK in November, a €500m seven year deal.

The only sterling supply so far this year was a £1.5bn four year Sonia-linked trade for National Australia Bank on Thursday.