Euronext issued €96BN in debt in January. €1.4BN came from Portuguese companies
EDP, BCP, and Hovione: three days, three operations. This is how the Portuguese corporate debt market kicked off 2019.
Debt emissions are still the number one choice for companies when these seek financing in the capital markets. 2018 was marked by significant losses in the Portuguese stock market (with the failure of two capital increase operations and two public offerings), but the Portuguese listed companies entered 2019 with a renewed bet on debt issuance.
In January 2019, Euronext’s stock markets issued €96 billion in bonds, according to the data released by the manager of the Portuguese, Irish, Belgian, French, Dutch and British stockmarkets. The debt issuance for Portuguese corporates reached a total of €1.444bn by the first month of the year, thanks to three operations that occurred from 23 to 25 of January.
EDP went first, placing one billion euros in hybrid green bonds with a 60-year maturity, at a 4.5% interest rate. This was not the first time that the energy company has decided to place their sustainability-oriented projects, but EDP is the only Portuguese company doing so. In total, Euronext’s stockmarket issued €1.5bn in green bonds.
The day after, it was BCP’s turn. The bank which is led by Miguel Maya issued €400 million euros in perpetual debt bonds, at a 9.25% interest rate. On 25 January, Hovione, a pharmaceutical company, issued bonds maturing in 2033 valued at €44m.
In three days, three different Portuguese companies secured €1.444bn in bonds.
On February 1, the construction group Casais issued €18.5m worth of bonds, with a four-year maturity and a 4.5% interest rate.
