Sberbank paves the way ahead

摘要

Sberbank provided the first big sign that investors are willing to re-engage with leading state-owned Russian entities after selling the first benchmark-sized bond issue from the country since the political crisis with Ukraine broke. Russia's biggest lender priced a €1bn November 2019 bond offering at par to yield 3.355% on Monday that was two-times subscribed, with more than 200 accounts participating. The new notes issue - its debut in euros - then initially jumped a point in the secondary market before settling to around 100.625 bid. "This puts beyond any doubt there's a deep and broad appetite for Russian risk," said Nick Darrant, head of CEEMEA debt syndicate at BNP Paribas. With Russian spreads tightening over the past few weeks, rumours of impending issuance had been growing. Alfa-Bank's holding company broke a near three-month impasse of Russian supply in early June. But that was a relatively small, niche deal from a private lender. Sberbank's transaction, therefore, has much greater significance in assessing investor interest.