---
title: "SSAs and Financials: Weekly Market Update"
url: https://www.helaba.com/en/ssas-and-financials-weekly-market-update-17
type: dd_research
language: en
updated: 2026-09-28
keywords: Renten, Weekly Market Update_englisch
---

# SSAs and Financials: Weekly Market Update

Focus on: SSAs & Financials 29 Febuary 2024 © Helaba | Research & Advisory | 29 February 2024 1 of 7 Research & Advisory Weekly Market Update Primary market environment: The DAX remains at record levels. ECB President Christine Lagarde expects inflation in the eurozone to continue to fall. The Fed's Bostic and Williams be- lieve that inflation has not yet reached its target. The primary market environment remains con- structive and we believe that issuance should continue at least until the Easter holidays. The slight improvement in sentiment shown recently in our heat map has already passed. Only covered bonds have seen a moderate improvement in the short term. Primary market barometer In a rather subdued week overall, all new issues in the SSA segment reached their target volumes. How- ever, the EIB clearly stood out with an order book of EUR 32bn. We are more optimistic for this week. Among other things, EU auctions are on the agenda. The primary market for covered bonds has had some success recently. The highlight of the week was undoubt- edly the 5-year issue from UBS. The Swiss company's bond impressed with an order book of EUR 7.4bn. However, demand for the week's other issues was also very strong. Senior Preferred issuance was up on the previous week. Lloyds Banking Group saw the strongest demand with the order book oversubscribed six times. Overall, spreads continued their rally and tightened again. The primary market remains receptive. Covered Bonds Senior Unsecured SSAs Risk trend indicator (heat map): Mixed picture Relative\* ASW spread change \* ASW levels standardized and 2T-smoothed Sources: LSEG, Helaba Research & Advisory IBOXX EURO 1 day 1 week 4 week 13 weeks 52 weeks 104 weeks Germany 0,02 0,13 0,49 1,01 1,74 3,68 European Union 0,00 0,05 0,23 0,44 0,99 3,29 Germany Covered -0,03 -0,03 0,43 0,98 2,69 3,38 EU Covered -0,03 -0,03 0,08 0,36 1,79 3,14 Banks senior preferred 0,02 -0,17 0,04 -0,20 0,44 0,92 Banks senior bail-in (SNP) 0,05 -0,10 -0,07 -0,29 -0,15 0,45 Banks subordinated 0,01 -0,22 -0,04 -0,50 -0,33 0,03 Supranational 0,00 0,05 0,21 0,46 1,15 3,16 Agencies 0,00 0,07 0,24 0,60 1,89 3,46 Sub-Sovereigns Germany 0,00 0,03 0,10 0,32 0,93 0,55 Sub-Sovereigns 0,00 0,03 0,14 0,35 1,15 1,80 strong middle weak unchanged weak middle strong spread widening\* spread tightening\* Focus on: SSAs & Financials – Weekly Market Update © Helaba | Research & Advisory | 29 February 2024 2 of 7 SSAs The general sentiment in the SSA sector is broadly positive, although the large wave of supply has lost momentum since the beginning of the year. Spreads at least seem to have bottomed out for the time being. Although the selling pressure on the secondary curves has eased, there is still a lack of follow-on buy- ing that could lead to further performance. The SSA primary market is often quiet at the start of the week. This Monday was no exception. EIB kicked things off on Tuesday with its third issue of the year. EUR 5bn was easily placed with an outstanding order book of EUR 32bn. The spread eventually tightened by 2bp to MS +5bp. EUR 6bn and EUR 3bn had already been placed on 9 and 30 January respectively. The EIB estimates its total issuance for the year at EUR 60bn. In December, the EIB's Board of Directors approved a borrowing authorisation of up to EUR 65bn to provide a degree of flexibility. Bond redemption in 2024 is estimated at EUR 62bn. In 2023, the EIB raised EUR 49.8bn, while repayments totalled EUR 60.4bn. The Land of Schleswig-Holstein successfully issued a EUR 1bn 7-year bond from an order book of EUR 1.15bn. The new issue premium was low at just 1 bp. The State of Hesse (EUR 1bn, 15 years) successfully com- pleted this week's issuance today with the order book oversubscribed twice. Outlook: The outlook for next week is optimistic, not only for a further stabilisation of secondary market spreads. We also expect more participants in the primary market. The next EU auction is scheduled for 4 March. The market expects maturities to increase by up to EUR 3 bn in 2028 and up to EUR 2 bn in 2038. The Auckland Council has already mandated a 10-year social benchmark and other states are likely to follow.. Covered Bonds The debut issue of the UK's TSB Bank (EUR 500m, 5 years, WNG), mandated last week, was success- fully printed on Monday with a bookbuilding of over EUR 3.4bn. The spread narrowed by 8 bps to MS +52 bps compared to the marketing. This example alone shows the bullish sentiment in the market at the mo- ment. Many are looking to take advantage of the current high spreads. The highlight of the week was undoubtedly UBS's first EUR covered bond issue. With a bookbuilding of EUR 7.4bn, the issue set an impressive benchmark, breaking the annual order book record set the previous week by Portugal's Novo Banco. The spread on the five- year bond, which had been set in the low MS +60s during marketing and was certainly an eye-catcher, tightened to MS +48bp. The success of this transaction is all the more remarkable given that it is a "structured" issue and the covered bond does not qualify as HQLA nor can it be deposited as collateral with the ECB. Not surprisingly, asset managers were the largest investor group at 59%. In terms of geographical distribution, investors from Germany (26%) were ahead of investors from the UK/Ireland (20%). The Iccrea Banca covered bond (EUR 500m, 8 years, WNG) also saw very strong demand from almost 140 investors totalling EUR 5.1bn, with a good mix of bank treas- uries, asset managers and fast money accounts. On Wednesday, DZ Hyp (EUR 500m, 10 years, WNG) also had no problems filling its order book. With a bookbuilding of over EUR 2.3bn, the spread tightened by 6bp to MS +41bp vs. guidance. Coupon Issuer Rating (M/S&P/F) Volume € Tap Maturity Launch-Spread vs. Mid-Swaps ESG Launch Orderbook 1st Spread- Indication 2,750% EIB Aaa /AAA/AAA 5,000bn 17.07.2029 ms +5 bps 27.02.2024 32,000bn ms +7 area 2,875% Schleswig-Holstein - /-/AAA 1,000bn 06.03.2031 ms +13 bps 28.02.2024 1,150bn ms + 13 area 3,125% Hessen - /AA+/- 1,000bn 10.03.2039 ms +36 bps 29.02.2024 2,100bn ms + 38 area Sources: Bloomberg, Helaba DCM € SSAs issues week of 26 February 2024 Focus on: SSAs & Financials – Weekly Market Update © Helaba | Research & Advisory | 29 February 2024 3 of 7 Outlook: The mood in the primary market remains very constructive and we expect more issuers to take ad- vantage of the opportunities available. Senior Unsecured The primary market is much quieter than a few weeks ago, although market sentiment remains posi- tive. This gives market participants a chance to digest the strong spread performance. The new Credit Agricole 12y Non Preferred tightened by 10bps. Of particular note is UniCredit S.p.A.'s Senior Preferred benchmark, which initially saw very strong demand and peaked at EUR 4.3bn. After aggressive spread tightening and an issue size of EUR 1.25bn, the final order book was "only" EUR 1.9bn. The successful transaction was priced well below its own secondary curve. Demand for Lloyds Banking's floating rate benchmark was strong as expecta- tions of interest rate cuts faded, and with a bid/cover of 6, the re-offer spread was tightened by a good 35bp to EUR 3m +70bp. In addition, Standard Chartered PLC (Holdco) was active in the senior non-preferred format and S- Bank of Finland and Novo Banco of Portugal were active in the senior preferred format. Preferred bonds traded 4-5bps tighter and the non-preferred segment 7bps tighter. The positive sentiment and spread tightening between non-preferred and preferred bonds is evident across all jurisdictions and maturities. Only German financials are out of line and remain the underperformers as they continue to be affected by the cur- rent news situation. Outlook: The ECB meeting in the coming week is gradually coming into focus, meaning that the potential for set- backs from further hawkish statements is increasing by the day. A few more issuers, especially from Scandinavia, are likely to come to the market before the Easter break. Coupon Issuer Rating (M/S&P/F) Volume € Tap Maturity Launch-Spread vs. Mid-Swaps ESG Launch Orderbook 1st Spread- Indication 3,319% TSB Bank Aaa /-/- 0,500bn 05.03.2029 ms +52 bps 26.02.2024 3,400bn ms + 60 area 3,500% Iccrea Banca S.p.A. Aa3 /-/- 0,500bn 04.03.2032 ms +80 bps 27.02.2024 5,100bn ms +92 area 3,304% UBS Switzerland - /-/AAA 1,000bn 05.03.2029 ms +48 bps 27.02.2024 7,500bn low 60 area 3,125% DZ HYP AG Aaa /AAA/- 0,500bn 28.02.2034 ms +35 bps 28.02.2024 2,200bn ms +41 area Sources: Bloomberg, Helaba DCM € Covered Bond issues week of 26 February 2024 „Credit strength continues. While equity markets continue to climb to new all-time highs and interest rate volatility remains high, credit spreads are tightening again. The broad spread rally that has been in place since the autumn is now very much exhausted, but the market has so far proved robust in the face of macro news and ahead of next week's ECB meeting. The cash and iTraxx indices are showing a solid performance with further tightening as the week progresses, supported by calmer primary markets." Comment from the Helaba trading floor „The two transactions of UBS Switzerland 5y (reofferspread +48) and the Italian Iccrea Banca 8y (reoffer- spread +80) are exemplary for the current situation. Both issues were historically heavily oversubscribed in the bookbuild (factor 7 and 10 respectively). Even if the "order book inflation" typical of constructive senti- ment is factored out, the underlying bid for non-core bonds is very high. This can be seen from the strong follow-on performance of almost all bonds that have been issued from this region recently. In the case of UBS, the premium is 6 bp. The same can be said for TSB Ltd. 5Y, Novo Banco 3Y, Iccrea Banca 8Y, Banco BPI 6Y and others, and similarly for the bulk of French and Dutch bonds". Comment from the Helaba trading floor Focus on: SSAs & Financials – Weekly Market Update © Helaba | Research & Advisory | 29 February 2024 4 of 7 Chart of the Week Low-risk assets such as Covered Bonds currently offer attractive yields, even in the AAA range. There are differences between countries and maturity bands, with the yield advantage of Ger- man Pfandbriefe over French Covered Bonds tightening re- cently. As the yield curve re- mains inverted, the short end re- mains attractive for investors. At an average of 3.71%, Austrian Covered Bonds offer the highest yields in the 1-2 year window. By comparison, German paper yields 3.57% and French covered bonds 3.55%. At 3.7%, Canadian covered bonds have a similarly high short-term yield to Austria. We expect Cana- dian issuers to become active soon, typically in early March. The free flow of investors and the yield level should ensure that the new bonds are sold without any problems. Coupon Issuer Rating (M/S&P/F) Volume € Tap Maturity Launch-Spread vs. Mid-Swaps ESG Launch Orderbook 1st Spread- Indication 4,000% UniCredit S.p.A. Baa1 /BBB/BBB 1,250bn 05.03.2034 ms +125 bps 27.02.2024 1,900bn ms +170 area 3m€+70 Bp Lloyds Banking Group plc A3 /BBB+/A 0,500bn 05.03.2027 ms +70 bps 27.02.2024 3,000bn 3m€ + 105/110 4,875% S-Bank - /BBB/- 0,300bn 08.03.2028 ms +195 bps 28.02.2024 0,900bn ms + 225 area 4,250% Novo Banco S.A. Ba1 /BBB-/BB 0,500bn 08.03.2028 ms +130 bps 28.02.2024 1,050bn ms +155 area Sources: Bloomberg, Helaba DCM € Senior Preferred issues week of 26 February 2024 Coupon Issuer Rating (M/S&P/F) Volume € Tap Maturity Launch-Spread vs. Mid-Swaps ESG Launch Orderbook 1st Spread- Indication 4,196% Standard Chartered PLC A3 /BBB+/A 1,000bn 04.04.2031 ms +145 bps 26.02.2024 2,500bn ms + 180 area 4,125% BPCE SA Baa1 /BBB+/A+ 1,250bn 08.03.2033 ms +145 bps 29.02.2024 2,400bn ms +170 area Sources: Bloomberg, Helaba DCM € Senior Non-preferred issues week of 26 February 2024 Yields on covered bonds: short end most attractive Average yields of triple-A rated covered bonds by maturity band in % Sources: Bloomberg, Helaba Research & Advisory 2,8 3 3,2 3,4 3,6 3,8 2,8 3 3,2 3,4 3,6 3,8 DF AT NL CA AVG 1-2YR 3-5YR 7-10YR Focus on: SSAs & Financials – Weekly Market Update © Helaba | Research & Advisory | 29 February 2024 5 of 7 Short news 2/26 S&P Capital IQ: Italian banks' risk provisioning in focus amid higher credit costs. S&P Capital IQ expects Italy's largest banks to build higher reserves in 2024 to protect against potential new credit losses as concerns over higher interest rates and a slowdown in economic growth persist. \* Closing prices from the previous day Sources: Refinitiv, Helaba Research & Advisory Market Data (current\*, vs. 1 week, vs. 4 weeks) E-STOXX 600 Banks 175 2,12% 2,24% iBoxx € Cov. Germany 29,2 -0,1 2,9 iTraxx Senior Financial 64,9 -1,3 -5,4 10Yr-Yield 2,46 0,02 0,30 iBoxx € Cov. Bonds 36,3 -0,1 0,0 iBoxx € Supranational 31,1 1,0 2,1 Swap 10J 2,78 -0,01 0,21 iBoxx € Banks PS 78,4 -3,6 1,1 iBoxx € Agencies 16,1 0,7 1,8 iBoxx € Germany -20,35 1,78 7,98 iBoxx Banks NPS 99,5 -1,7 -1,9 iBoxx € Sub-Sov. Germany 22,9 0,9 1,0 iBoxx € EU 38,10 1,17 3,05 iBoxx Banks Subordinated 160,5 -8,7 -2,2 iBoxx € Sub-Sovereign 38,2 0,8 1,0 Leisure tip for the weekend: Fürther miniature world(Hesse) Do you have ideas for leisure tips? We would be happy to receive your suggestions at research@helaba.de. Sources: www.ffh.de/Freizeit/100-dinge.html/www.fuerther-miniaturwelten.de Today the big world gets very small! In the middle of the Odenwald is one of the largest model railway worlds in Germany. 9 kilometres of track, over 400 trains, on an area larger than an ice hockey pitch. First you enter a small shop and then the door to the model railway world opens. Trains glide over high bridges, disappear into dark tunnels or stop at large stations. Find out more: Miniature world Focus on: SSAs & Financials – Weekly Market Update © Helaba | Research & Advisory | 29 February 2024 6 of 7 Chartbook SSAs, Covered Bonds, Senior Unsecured Senior Unsecured: Primary volumes Senior Unsecured: Spread development EUR benchmark issue volume cumulative by weeks, bn EUR ASW spread, bp Sources: Bloomberg, Helaba Research & Advisory Sources: LSEG, Helaba Research & Advisory 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 2023 Senior Non-preferred 2023 Senior Preferred 2024 Senior Preferred 2024 Senior Non-preferred 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 02/23 04/23 06/23 08/23 10/23 12/23 Banks Subordinated Banks Senior Bail-in Banks Senior Preferred Covered Bonds: Primary volumes Covered Bonds: Spread development EUR benchmark issue volume cumulative by weeks, bn EUR ASW spread, bp Sources: Bloomberg, Helaba Research & Advisory Sources: LSEG, Helaba Research & Advisory 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 2023 2022 2024 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 02/23 04/23 06/23 08/23 10/23 12/23 EUR Covered Covered Germany SSAs: Primary volumes SSAs: Spread development EUR benchmark issue volume cumulative by weeks, bn EUR ASW spread, bp Sources: Bloomberg, Helaba Research & Advisory Sources: LSEG, Helaba Research & Advisory 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 2022 2024 2023 -10 0 10 20 30 40 -10 0 10 20 30 40 02/23 04/23 06/23 08/23 10/23 12/23 Sub-Sovereigns Agencies Supranationals Sub-Sovereigns Germany Focus on: SSAs & Financials – Weekly Market Update © Helaba | Research & Advisory | 29 February 2024 7 of 7 News from Research & Advisory  Focus on Credit – MayorEuropean Banks: Heading into 2024 with strong credit risk buffers  Focus on: Credit - Primary market update bank bonds  Focus on: Credit – Primary market update corporate bonds  Focus on: Credit – Primary market update Schuldschein  Focus on: Credit – European banks: The sharpening contours of ESG disclosure  Markets & Trends 2024 – Global economy in a transition game Please feel free to contact us Publisher and editorial office Helaba Research & Advisory Editor: Sabrina Miehs, CESGA Corporate Research & Advisory Responsible: Dr. Gertrud R. Traud Chefvolkswirtin/ Head of Research & Advisory Neue Mainzer Str. 52-58 60311 Frankfurt am Main T +49 69 / 91 32 – 20 24 Internet: www.helaba.com Disclaimer This publication has been prepared with the greatest care. However, it contains only non-binding analyses and forecasts of current and future market conditions. The information is based on sources which we consider to be reliable, but for whose accuracy, completeness or up-to-dateness we cannot assume any liability. All state- ments made in this publication are for information purposes only. They must not be understood as an offer or recommendation for investment de- cisions. Here you can subscribe to our newsletter: https://news.helaba.de/research/ Dr. Susanne Knips Senior Credit Analyst T 069/91 32-32 11 Sabrina Miehs, CESGA Head of FI & SSA Research Senior Advisor Sustainable Finance T 069/91 32-48 90 Christian Schmidt Covered Bond & SSA Analyst T 069/91 32-23 88

SSAs: Stabilisation of secondary market spreads. Covered bonds: Historical order books. Senior Unsecured: Spread rally continues. Chart of the week: Covered Bond Yields: Short end most attractive.