Category: Argentina

Argentine Banco Supervielle may follow local Banco Macro into the perpetuals market, according to local media. The bank is heard to be preparing a 30-year issue to help extend its debt profile. Last November Banco Macro came with Argentina’s first perpetual issue, selling $150 million of the bonds to yield 9.75%, in the face of huge demand.

Argentina pushed out its curve on Thursday when it sold $750 million of its new 10-year dollar-denominated Bonar X bond. The offering, the first tranche of a program totaling $2.5 billion, was twice oversubscribed. The sovereign had to pay a yield of 8.46%, towards the top end of the range predicted by analysts in recent days. The 7% bonds mature April 2017 and pay interest twice a year: in April and October. Argentina last sold dollar-denominated paper in mid-March when it achieved a yield of 7.71% for the fourth and final tranche of its seven-year Bonar VII bonds.

Argentina is offering up to $750 million of its new dollar-denominated Bonar X bond, with bids due to close today, Thursday. The 7% bonds mature April 2017 and are expected to price to yield between 7.75% and 7.90%. The bonds will pay interest twice a year: in April and October. They will be used to refinance debt coming due. The program for the newest dollar bond has been approved for up to $2.5 billion.

Argentina’s Banco Macro is heard looking to issue bonds denominated in Argentine pesos via Citi, according to bankers away from the deal. The Buenos Aires-based bank may have the benefit of seeing how its larger competitor Banco Rio fares with an up to $150 million issue of three-year peso-denominated notes.

Trade credit insurance firm Euler Hermes has opened a subsidiary in Argentina, its third Latin American unit to date. “The Latin American region has a very high economic growth potential and offers enormous opportunities for exporters,” commented Arjan van de Wall, director of international development, marketing and strategy at the insurer. The company already has units in Brazil and Mexico.

Argentina’s Banco Rio is heard preparing to launch a $150 million three-year peso-denominated bond issue. Citi and Santander, the company’s parent, are leading the deal, according to executives away from the deal. Banco Rio was on roadshow in London yesterday, say bankers away from the deal.

Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS), the Argentine gas transmission company, has launched a buyback of its 2010 and 2013 bonds, which may cost it up to $424 million. The bonds were originally issued in connection with the company’s debt restructuring in 2004 when it exchanged just over $1 billion in debt for the new bonds. The buyback offer expires on May 7 with an early deadline of April 23.

Argentina’s consumer prices rose by 0.8% in March, taking annual inflation to 9.1%, reported national statistics bureau INDEC. The figures mean that first-quarter inflation was 2.2%. The biggest increase was seen in clothing (up 4.5%), followed by education (1.6%).

Argentine electricity distributor Edenor has filed with US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $180 million via an initial share offering. Edenor plans to issue ADS, where each ADS represents 20 common Class B shares. The company will also issue common shares simultaneously in Argentina, according to a filing with local market regulator, CNV. Citigroup and JPMorgan are coordinating the transaction. The company said proceeds would be used to buy back debt, capital expenditure and general corporate purposes.

Argentina’s Province of Buenos Aires is preparing to launch a bond delayed since the end of February and hopes to raise around $400 million in the international markets, report local media. The province pulled the bond after emerging markets took a nosedive in February. Yield guidance then had been in the 9.5% range and the transaction was destined to satisfy the province’s financing needs for 2007, which run to over $500 million. Joint leads are Deutsche Bank and Barclays. The deal has a B3 rating. Last October, the province returned to the international capital markets for the first time since Argentina’s debt default to sell $475 million in bonds. The 12-year bonds were sold to yield 9.375%.