Piraeus bank's comeback to the public bond market - the first from a Greek bank in more than four years - has fuelled hopes that the country's lenders are on the road to recovery, but capital demands are looming as the next big challenge. The 5% coupon, 5.125% yield, six times subscribed order book and near 40bp secondary spread performance on the €500m senior unsecured deal mark a watershed moment for Creek lenders that once saw their paper trading around the 20% mark. Greece is the final frontier in the eurozone crisis recovery, with its banks having been resolutely locked out of the wholesale markets. Irish and Portuguese banks have made giant strides over the past year, issuing covered bonds and senior debt, as well as hybrid capital. However, a recent health-check to see whether last summer's €28bn recapitalisation of the four top banks had left them with enough cash to withstand rising loan losses exposed gaping capital holes that need to be filled.
展开▼
