Westpac NZ issue well received

Westpac New Zealand closed an issue of three-year floating rate notes early on Tuesday and set a price at the bottom end of its indicated range, suggesting strong demand after a relative drought of issues.

The deal re-opens the market for long-term wholesale issues from New Zealand banks, after almost a month of no issues.

Westpac NZ closed the FRN offer two hours early and set the margin to the 90-day bill rate at 75 basis points, which was at the bottom end of the 75 to 80 basis point range.

Westpac opened the issue on Monday with a minimum issue size of NZ$200 million, but with an option to go as high as $500 million. It closed the offer at the upper end of the range, with final issuance being set at $385 million. The AA- rated FRNs mature in August 2016 and settle on August 8.

Bank lending growth has surged over the last year, exceeding retail deposit growth for the first time in three years and forcing New Zealand's major banks to return to international wholesale markets for funding.

However, Reserve Bank pressure to slow riskier lending growth, as well as a rise in fixed mortgage rates, has slowed mortgage approvals sharply over the last three weeks.

Mortgage approval values fell to $1.182 billion in the week to June 28, from $1.421 billion in the same week a month earlier, and the annualised growth rate of approvals has halved to eight per cent in the last six weeks. This has raised expectations that New Zealand's banks may not need to return to the international markets.

ANZ, meanwhile, said it will sell A$1 billion in hybrid capital notes, up from a planned $750 million. The bank said it had set the margin for the proposed issue at 340 basis points over the 180-day bank bill rate, at the high end of the foreshadowed range.