Finnvera issued a EUR 1 billion bond

Joint lead managers of the transaction were Citi, DZ Bank, Nordea and TD Securities. The final orderbook closed over twice oversubscribed, with 80 investors mainly from bank sector in Europe.

Finnvera is active in the international capital markets. In recent years, Finnvera's typical annual amount of funding has been around EUR 2 billion. Usually, it has meant one euro-denominated and one USD-denominated benchmark bond issue per year.

This year's funding needs are estimated to be slightly lower than expected, amounting to EUR 1.0−1.5 billion, which in practice means only one benchmark bond this year. In such a situation, the importance of timing is further emphasized.

”Investors assess the preference of an investment in relation to its risk profile and return, as well as other reference interest rates. Market interest rates change rapidly, and the decision to issue always has to be made relatively quickly in times of uncertainty. The issuance itself is only the tip of the iceberg in the whole process, which is the long-term implementation of the funding plan”, says Jukka-Pekka Holopainen, Finnvera’s Head of Treasury.

The bond was issued under Finnvera’s EMTN (Euro Medium Term Note) programme. Bonds issued under the programme are guaranteed by the Republic of Finland and their rating corresponds to the rating assigned to the Republic of Finland for its long-term liabilities. The rating given by Moody’s to Finnvera’s programme is Aa1 and that given by Fitch is AA+.

As the economic outlook has changed significantly, Finnvera changed its funding plan for 2020 in June. Demand for Finnvera’s export financing, especially export credits, is expected to remain lower than estimated this year. Finnvera’s new estimate is that funding amounts to EUR 1.0−1.5 billion in 2020.