Suncorp ends bond hiatus
An A$750 million, three-year floating rate note issue from Suncorp-Metway (rated A+) was priced on Friday, in a rare flicker of activity in the corporate bond market last week, after the hiatus linked to the various shenanigans in Cyprus and in North Korea.Suncorp will pay a coupon of 100 basis points over bank bills.Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (rated AAA) was also active in the market, selling A$100 million of 10-year bonds on Thursday, priced at 159 bps over Commonwealth government bonds. Nederlandse Waterschapsbank was a semi-regular issuer between 2005 and 2007 but only returned to the market in December last year.ING Bank (Australia) announced its intention to buy back up to A$1.75 billion of government guaranteed bonds that will mature in August. The outstanding bonds comprise A$1.15 billion of fixed-rate notes and A$600 million of floating-rate notes.In line with what is fast becoming the market standard, ING Bank (Australia) is proposing to price the buyback at 10 bps below swap/bank bills. Pricing will take place on Wednesday.ING Bank (Australia) has a further A$4.8 billion of government guaranteed bonds outstanding, with maturities ranging from March 2014 to March 2015.