The Week That Was (16 – 22 May, 2022)

US primary market issuances last week were at $28.8bn vs. $19bn in the week prior with Investment grade (IG) corporates issuing $27.6bn of deals while high yield (HY) issuances were at only $1bn. The largest IG deals included Citi raising $6bn, UnitedHealth raising $4bn and PayPal raising $3bn via four-part deals each. In the HY space, Carnival Corp was the sole issuer raising $1bn via an 8NC3 at 10.5%. In North America, there were a total of 35 upgrades and 30 downgrades combined across the three major rating agencies last week. LatAm saw no issuances vs. $900mn in issuances in the prior week. In South America, there were 5 upgrades and 4 downgrades across the major rating agencies. EU Corporate G3 issuances rose sharply to $40bn vs. $16.6bn in the week prior, led by banks – Banco Santander raised $2.15bn via a two-trancher, BNP Paribas and SocGen raised €1.5bn each while BBVA raised €1.25bn. Across the European region, there were 9 upgrades and 34 downgrades across the three major rating agencies. Credit Suisse and its related entities made up 14 of the downgrades while Ukraine’s sovereign bonds accounted for 6 of the downgrades. The GCC G3 region saw no new deals last week for a fourth consecutive week. Across the Middle East/Africa region, there was 1 upgrade and no downgrades across the three major rating agencies. The APAC ex-Japan G3 region saw $7.7bn vs. $3.4bn in issuances in the week prior led by Westpac’s $2.25bn three-trancher, Commonwealth Bank’s $1.75bn issuance and EXIM Bank of Korea’s $1bn deal. In the APAC region, there were 2 upgrades and 28 downgrades combined across the three major rating agencies last week.