Buybacks in the semi-government sector have been more popular in recent months; NSW Treasury Corporation bought back $502 million worth of November 2020 capital indexed bonds in late August and QTC last rolled out of $300 million July 2017s and into an equivalent amount of July 2025s in late July. QTC has now bought back another $500 million worth of the July 2017s and issued $500 million worth bonds split over four tranches with maturities from 2023 to 2026.
Pricing was more favourable, which in the context of narrower spreads between ACGBs and semis, is to be expected. Using the pricing of the 2026s as an example, this latest issue of bonds was done at 5bps less than the pricing on the same line in July.
Perhaps this is an end of month thing for QTC. There are now $4.069 billion worth of July 2017s left and about ten months left before their maturity date. The last two buy backs have averaged $400 million so at this rate QTC are on schedule to refinance the 2017 bonds before their actual maturity.