Anleihen: Für schwache Schuldner wird es eng
Die steigenden Renditen zeigen auch bei Firmenbonds ihre Wirkung. Für Unternehmen mit guter Bonität bleibt die Finanzierung tragbar – schwachen Schuldnern drohen deutlich höhere Zinslasten.
Anleihen Market: Poor Credit Borrowers Face Struggle
The rule in the bond market is traditionally that companies can only borrow at worse conditions than their home countries, with only a few exceptions. However, mistrust toward the mounting national debts has become so great that investors are now offering better conditions for many firms with good credit ratings. This is especially true for France.
French corporate bonds in the value of 215 billion euros are now yielding lower returns than French government bonds. This is 18 times more than at the beginning of the year, according to Bloomberg data. This unusual reversal shows that the steep rise in returns for government bonds is also disrupting the world of corporate financing.
"This is one of the biggest issues right now," says Denis Ertungealp, who advises German industrial groups on bond issuance at US bank Bank of America. The rising returns on government bonds essentially make corporate refinancing more expensive. Until recently, firms remained untouched by the extreme swings in national debt. But this has changed in recent weeks.
Risk premiums, or the yield spreads over government bonds, have increased significantly. This raises questions for credit strategists like Juan Valencia of French giant Société Générale about whether it signals the end of the financing for companies that have so far been manageable. Companies with good creditworthiness, those with investment-grade ratings, can currently manage the increased costs.
Euro-denominated bond yields have risen from 3.3 percent at the start of the year to 4.2 percent, and in the US from 4.8 percent to 6.0 percent. However, firm bonds do not break decades-old yield records, but only reach the level from two years ago. Risk premiums remain barely one percentage point in the Eurozone and 0.8 percentage points in dollars, even with recent increases.
"Getting into trouble for companies with investment-grade ratings is still a way off," adds Ertungealp. Investor demand for company bonds is still not a problem, but it is no longer the same as at the beginning of the year. It is still three times higher than the supply.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
