Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- Risk. What risk? Risk on. This triad now seems to encapsulate investor sentiment toward the corp credit space in the wake of a dovish tilt by the FOMC, rate cut in Norway and with the prospect of the ECB becoming the new marginal buyer of corporate bonds by the end of 2Q, Bloomberg strategist Simon Ballard writes.

• While synthetic indexes reflect degree of mkt optimism, cash corporate bonds still reluctant to perform quite so strongly, show undue exuberance, recognising challenging macro backdrop and possible weight of primary mkt supply
  • After recent buoyant new issue activity, may be natural to expect some consolidation
• Risk Appetite model shows impact of recent spread performance, but with heightened volatility

• CDX IG currently +0.2bps at 83.33 in overnight session; iTraxx Asia Ex Japan IG is currently -3.3bps at 130.90

NEWS

• Corporate News
• RWE’s Trading Unit Negotiating Joint Venture in Asia: Krebber
• Abengoa to Announce EU800M of Contracts, Economista Reports
• BT: Simon Lowth to Succeed Chanmugam as Finance Director
• Deutsche Telekom Workers to Strike Again Today: Ver.di
• Wolford 3Q Net Income Drops 48% to EU1.6m; Cautions on Outlook

• Financial News
• Generali Fourth-Quarter Profit Rises on Higher Operating Income
• Banco Santander Aims to Pay EU0.21/Shr Against 2016 Results
• UBS Bonus Pool Surges 14%, as Other Lenders Cut Compensation
• SocGen Is Sounding Out Sale of Polish Eurobank: Puls Biznesu

• Credit Rating News
• Policy Outlook Positive for Australian Banking System: Fitch
• GE Exit Can’t Derail Bid to Shake Off Junk-Bond Rating in Mexico

• Other News
• Merkel Ducks Draghi Call for Clarity, Dodging Banking Union Move
• Strategists Now See Virtually No Gains for Europe Stocks in 2016
• Fed That Can’t Go It Alone Pulls Carpet From Under Bond Yields

ANALYST VIEWS

• A good reminder to borrowers and bankers that investors matter – and need to be looked after, not begrudged, if they get some good performance. After all, they’re the ones providing the cash and left holding the risk: creditmarketdaily.com

NEW ISSUES

• Aareal Bank EU150m 1.625% 2/2019 Tap MS +75
• BFCM EU1b 10Y Tier 2 Subord Notes MS +190
• EDP Finance EU600m 7Y MS +215
• NIBC Bank EU300m 3.5Y MS +235
• Outotec EU150m PNC5 Hybrid 7.375%
• Santander Consumer Finance EU1b 3Y MS +95
• Sato Corporation EU300m 5Y MS +237
• WL Bank EU500m 7Y Covered Bond MS -2
• European IG credit pipeline here and HY credit pipeline here
• Issuers exposed to S-T rollover and interest-rate reset risk here

• NOTE: Simon Ballard is a credit strategist who writes for Bloomberg. The observations he makes are his own and are not intended as investment advice.

(Bloomberg) -- Generali 4Q operating profit EU946m compares with est. EU1.07b (3 ests.), EU840m year earlier.

• 4Q life operating profit EU627m vs EU727m yr earlier
• 4Q non-life operating profit EU382m vs EU300m yr earlier
• 4Q net income EU304m vs est. EU476m (4 ests.)
• Proposes div. EU0.72/share vs BDVD est. EU0.70/share
• 2015 operating profit +6.1% to EU4.8b
• 2015 net profit +22% to EU2b
• Economic Solvency ratio at 202% as calculated under group’s full internal model (186% FY14)
• Group shareholders’ equity EU23.6b
• Combined ratio 93.1%
• In 2016 Generali will continue to pursue strategic actions of new development phase, confirming target of operating ROE above 13%, and improving shareholder remuneration, consistently with strategic plan presented to the market
• NOTE March 17: Generali Appoints Italy Chief Donnet as CEO After Greco’s Exit
• Related
  • Stock has risen 8.4% month-to-date vs a 5.7% rise in Stoxx 600 Insurance index; is down 18% YTD vs a 10% fall in SXIP index