Summary: Corporate bond spreads 2bps tighter on average; swap spreads wider; iTraxx up 2 points; next-to-no local issuance; handful of primary-market kangaroo deals; no RMBS transactions.
Corporate yields generally lagged the falls of their Commonwealth counterparts at the front of the curve and lagged the rises at the long end, resulting in a 2bps fall in the median spread by the end of the week. The majority of spreads’ week-on-week changes at the individual level were within a range of -3bps to +8bps. The most notable exception was Macquarie December 2027s (spread: 185bps, +13bps).
One of the two other main measures of corporate risk, swap-to-bond spreads, widened along the curve with the exception of the long end where spreads remained stable. The other measure, credit default swap premiums, rose modestly. The Australian credit default swap index, the iTraxx Australia Series 36, finished 2.00 points higher at 84.50 points.
Volumes in the primary market for corporate bonds and notes fell to next-to-nothing in this Easter-shortened week. Only $30 million worth of bonds or notes were priced by local entities or their subsidiaries, whereas in the previous week issuance amounted to $6.1 billion. There were no asset-backed transactions.
The primary market was very quiet. The only deal came from Centuria Capital (No. 2 Fund) on Wednesday when it raised $30 million through an issue of senior secured March 2025 FRNs at 6m BBSW + 335bps.
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There were a handful of transactions in the primary market for kangaroo bonds.
Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten tapped its February 2032s for $45 million at ACGB + 74bps on Tuesday.
The next day, Rentenbank tapped its May 2029 line for $100 million at ACGB + 61bps.
Athene made its debut in the kangaroo market on Thursday. The life company raised $300 million via an issue of April 2027s at Swap + 190bps.
On the same day, the African Development Bank raised $155 million through a new issue of October 2032s at ACGB + 55bps.
There were no transactions for asset-backed securities in the primary market during the week.
Interested readers can find more details as well as other bond transactions in our tables via the link below.
| ISSUER | MATURITY | COUPON (%) | RATING | WEEK HIGH | WEEK LOW | CLOSING YIELD | Δ WEEK | Δ MONTH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optus | 17-Jun-22 | 4.00 | A | 0.88 | 0.82 | 0.82 | 0.05 | 0.16 |
| GE Capital | 8-Aug-22 | 5.50 | BBB+ | 1.00 | 0.95 | 0.95 | 0.02 | 0.23 |
| Optus | 23-Aug-22 | 3.25 | A | 1.06 | 1.05 | 1.05 | 0.07 | 0.25 |
| Apple Inc | 28-Aug-22 | 3.70 | AA+ | 0.80 | 0.78 | 0.80 | 0.04 | 0.25 |
| Wells Fargo | 7-Sep-22 | 5.25 | A- | 1.23 | 1.18 | 1.23 | 0.06 | 0.35 |
| Melbourne Airport | 15-Sep-22 | 4.00 | BBB+ | 1.15 | 0.98 | 0.98 | -0.10 | 0.20 |
| Telstra | 16-Sep-22 | 4.00 | A | 1.17 | 1.08 | 1.09 | 0.00 | 0.30 |
| Stockland | 23-Nov-22 | 4.50 | A- | 1.32 | 1.22 | 1.30 | 0.11 | 0.39 |
| ANZ | 16-Aug-23 | 5.00 | AA- | 2.29 | 2.17 | 2.17 | -0.10 | 0.67 |
| Transpower NZ | 28-Aug-23 | 5.75 | AA- | 2.35 | 2.25 | 2.27 | 0.05 | 0.78 |
| Mirvac Finance | 18-Sep-23 | 3.50 | BBB+ | 2.62 | 2.51 | 2.51 | -0.05 | 0.72 |
| Qantas | 10-Oct-23 | 4.40 | BB+ | 3.47 | 3.37 | 3.37 | 0.02 | 0.76 |
| Australia Post | 13-Nov-23 | 5.50 | A+ | 2.49 | 2.36 | 2.36 | -0.14 | 0.64 |
| Westpac | 21-Nov-23 | 4.40 | AA- | 2.56 | 2.42 | 2.42 | -0.14 | 0.66 |
| Fonterra | 26-Feb-24 | 5.50 | A- | 2.91 | 2.78 | 2.78 | -0.09 | 0.77 |
| NAB | 11-Mar-24 | 5.00 | AA- | 2.81 | 2.66 | 2.66 | -0.16 | 0.65 |
| Rabobank Nederland (Aust) | 11-Apr-24 | 5.50 | A+ | 2.97 | 2.81 | 2.81 | -0.15 | 0.69 |
| CBA | 27-May-24 | 4.75 | AA- | 2.87 | 2.72 | 2.72 | -0.17 | 0.66 |
| AusNet | 21-Jun-24 | 4.00 | BBB+ | 3.58 | 3.47 | 3.47 | -0.08 | 0.82 |
| Macquarie Bank | 7-Aug-24 | 1.75 | A+ | 3.22 | 3.12 | 3.12 | -0.13 | 0.64 |
| Wells Fargo | 27-Aug-24 | 4.75 | A+ | 3.52 | 3.34 | 3.34 | -0.15 | 0.71 |
| University of Sydney | 28-Aug-25 | 3.75 | Aa1 | 3.43 | 3.22 | 3.22 | -0.20 | 0.51 |
| Apple Inc | 10-Jun-26 | 3.60 | AA+ | 3.46 | 3.28 | 3.28 | -0.11 | 0.53 |
| CBA | 11-Jun-26 | 4.20 | AA- | 3.63 | 3.43 | 3.43 | -0.16 | 0.60 |
| ANZ | 22-Jul-26 | 4.00 | AA- | 3.66 | 3.46 | 3.46 | -0.16 | 0.59 |
| Qantas | 12-Oct-26 | 4.75 | BB+ | 4.85 | 4.69 | 4.69 | -0.09 | 0.64 |
| Australia Pacific Airports | 4-Nov-26 | 3.75 | BBB+ | 4.25 | 4.09 | 4.09 | -0.11 | 0.60 |
| CBA | 17-Nov-26 | 3.25 | AA- | 3.56 | 3.35 | 3.35 | -0.18 | 0.66 |
| Australia Post | 1-Dec-26 | 4.00 | A+ | 3.58 | 3.41 | 3.41 | -0.14 | 0.55 |
| WSO Finance | 31-Mar-27 | 4.50 | A- | 4.09 | 3.92 | 3.92 | -0.10 | 0.61 |
| Telstra | 19-Apr-27 | 4.00 | A | 3.94 | 3.79 | 3.79 | -0.09 | 0.63 |
| Vicinity Centre | 26-Apr-27 | 4.00 | A | 4.24 | 4.07 | 4.07 | -0.11 | 4.07 |
| Dexus Finance | 11-May-27 | 4.25 | A3 | 4.05 | 3.89 | 3.89 | -0.10 | 3.89 |
| Asciano | 12-May-27 | 5.40 | BBB- | 5.19 | 5.02 | 5.02 | -0.10 | 0.56 |
| Fonterra | 2-Nov-27 | 4.00 | A- | 4.14 | 3.97 | 3.97 | -0.06 | 0.65 |
| Macquarie | 15-Dec-27 | 4.15 | BBB+ | 4.68 | 4.55 | 4.55 | 0.03 | 0.78 |
| AusNet | 21-Aug-28 | 4.20 | A- | 4.64 | 4.51 | 4.51 | 0.02 | 0.85 |