green bonds

Nykredit Realkredit issued the second and largest green Danish covered bond yet last week, a SEK4.1bn (EUR383m, DKK2.87bn) three year FRN that achieved a 3bp saving versus the issuer’s conventional issuance which will be passed on to its borrowers.

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg aims to build green benchmark curves, after having expanded and more than doubled its green bond portfolio, and wrapped up EUR750m senior and $750m covered bonds in the space of a week, the latter – the first dollar green covered bond – attracting unusually strong demand inside fair value.

La Banque Postale inaugurated a green, social and sustainability bond framework last week and attracted twice as many investors to the EUR750m 10 year green senior non-preferred bond than its last conventional SNP. Issuance in social and covered bond formats is set to follow.

ABN AMRO priced its fourth green bond last Monday, a EUR750m no-grow seven year deal where green investors proved less price sensitive in a hot market, on the same day the Dutch State Treasury Agency announced plans for the Netherlands to issue the first triple-A green sovereign bond.

Europe’s largest mortgage covered bond issuer, Nykredit Realkredit, is to join compatriot Realkredit Danmark in issuing green covered bonds, with the Danish model meaning that cheaper financing costs will be passed on directly to end-borrowers, among whom Swedish clients are “leading the pack”, the issuer’s IR head told Sustainabonds.

La Banque Postale (LBP) is planning to inaugurate a new green, social and sustainability bond framework after a roadshow starting on Monday, with a seven to 10 year senior non-preferred green bond envisaged. ABN AMRO is meanwhile set to launch its fourth green bond.

An inaugural green bond from Danske Bank on Tuesday allowed it to mitigate concerns over its role in a money-laundering scandal to price the EUR500m no-grow five year non-preferred senior deal at a level well inside where a conventional bond from the Danish issuer would likely have been priced, on the back of EUR3.25bn of demand at re-offer.

Asset growth, EU sustainable finance initiatives and pricing benefits could all help green bond supply rise to meet the growing demands of investors, according to speakers at an LBBW conference on 1 March, where a broadening of issuance, particularly into social bonds, was called for.