Turk Ekonomi Bankasi prices tap of euro notes; illiquid bonds get attention; year-end eyed

By Christine Van Dusen

Atlanta, Dec. 19 - Turkey's Turk Ekonomi Bankasi AS priced euro-denominated bonds, India's Rural Electrification Corp. planned a roadshow for renminbi-denominated notes and investors put some real money into Venezuela's sovereign bonds on an otherwise quiet Monday for emerging markets assets.

The day's limited trading - about $10 million to $15 million by the afternoon in the United States - was mostly limited to illiquid names like Ecuador, Vietnam, Ivory Coast and some paper from Mexico, a Connecticut-based trader said.

"These are names that guys are trying to move off the books before year-end," he said. "We've definitely seen some real money adding in Venezuela leading up to year-end. Guys are doing a little bit of overweight on Venezuela going into next year with the prospect of a regime change there. With oil still in the mid-90s it's still relatively cheap to other EM assets."

Argentina's bonds also got a bump on Monday following the recent news of new cabinet appointments for the sovereign.

"They've held up pretty well also," he said. "There's some relatively heavy volume in warrants going through."

Recent new issues were also getting some attention on Monday.

"There's definitely money to be put to work, so new deals have done OK," a trader said. "It's based on how aggressively they've priced."

But overall, the market appears to be in the process of shutting down for the holidays and the end of the year, he said.

"The broker screens are about 80% closed for the day already. People are just keeping one eye on headlines in Europe and one on the kind of big sell-off in commodity prices to make sure things don't continue to spiral," he said at midday. "The BBB credits have been very quiet. I think most of the buyside accounts have gotten their affairs in order and returns for the year are pretty much set in concrete."

Turk Ekonomi Bankasi prices

Turkey's Turk Ekonomi Bankasi priced a €100 million tap of its notes due Nov. 4, 2023 to yield Euribor plus 475 bps, according to a company filing.

The notes are part of a program to issue €800 million notes.

In October, the Istanbul-based lender priced a €75 million issue of notes due Nov. 4, 2023 at par to yield Euribor plus 475 bps.

BNP was the bookrunner for the notes, which are callable on Nov. 4, 2018.

Rural Electrification eyed

In other deal-related news, India-based financer and promoter Rural Electrification Corp. is planning an issue of renminbi-denominated notes that will be marketed during a roadshow at the end of January, a market source said.

No other information was immediately available on Monday.

"We'll have a relatively full deal calendar when everyone returns in January," a trader said.

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