It’s been a quiet few weeks for the Primary Issue Market in the listed space whilst the traditional Wholesale Bond Market continues to see new issuances from repeat and first time issuers. The domestic banks have been very active, accessing funding in Europe over the past few weeks. Coming off the back of a period of volatility, we expect the market will now slow into the traditionally quiet Christmas period. Highlights from this week include:

  • MC Finance Australia (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation) issued a AUD100m 7-year Senior Unsecured Medium Term Note Issue, which may bring liquidity and volatility to the existing securities.
  • AusAmerican Mining Ltd announced a AUD60m maximum unrated Unsecured Corporate Bond offering for professional and sophisticated investors. Overall, we are hesitant on the mining sector however there are pockets of value if sufficient analysis is done. This deal is being run by FIIG and we will be releasing a report shortly.
  • For those looking for low risk diversity in currency, New South Wales Treasury Corp has issued a DimSum Bond – the first from an Australian Issuer. The yield is not particularly exciting at 2.75% but it does represent a secured investment in a currency that will dominate trade and investment in Australia for years to come.,
  • Alumina Limited has issued a AUD125m 5-year Fixed Rate Bond at 5.05%. The aluminum story has had a rough run for many years due to cheap excess supply from china but things are slowly changing. We will review this deal in the weeks to come.