(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc . and Wells Fargo & Co . joined rival JPMorgan Chase & Co. on US investment-grade market gains following the second quarter earnings report.
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Goldman sold $5.5 billion in bonds in two parts, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The longest offering, an 11-year note, yields 1.17 percentage points over Treasuries, after initial discussions of about 1.45 percentage points, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the details are private.
Proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, and Goldman is the sole signatory to the deal, the person added.
Goldman’s trading unit drove a rise in second-quarter earnings. Both fixed-income and equity traders beat analysts’ estimates, while a rebound in capital markets business helped drive better-than-expected results in most of the company’s Wall Street operations.
Wells Fargo, meanwhile, won the U.S. senior market with a $2 billion permanent offering a day after it raised 2.75 billion euros ($3 billion) in the European debt market.
This is the first sale of a series of preferred shares by one of the so-called Big Six US lenders in almost two months, following a wave of deals earlier this year when hopes of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve were fading. It’s also Wells Fargo’s first since last summer, when it effectively reopened a market that had remained closed since the regional banking crisis.
The new number “looks like a net AT1 addition (without refinancing),” CreditSights Inc. analysts wrote. Jesse Rosenthal and George Milonopoulos in a client note on Tuesday. This refers to the role of preferred stock as a source of additional Tier 1 capital for US banks, played by contingent convertible bonds in other parts of the world.
Goldman representatives did not respond to a request for comment. Wells Fargo declined to comment.
JPMorgan kicked off a big bank issuance spree on Monday, borrowing $9 billion in a four-part offering that raised more than $28 billion in investor demand. The longest part of the deal, an 11-year tranche, attracted more than $12 billion in orders. That allowed the lender to pay only low single-digit concessions to sell the debt, Bloomberg’s Brian Smith wrote in a note.
More on the Road
Top banks are expected to borrow more than usual after posting earnings as they take advantage of falling yields and ahead of the upcoming US election, which could potentially roil the market. Big banks are some of the biggest issuers of investment-grade corporate debt, and their financing decisions help set the tone for the rest of that market.
JPMorgan credit analyst Kabir Caprihan expects $21 billion to $24 billion in issuance by the six largest domestic banks, more than July’s 10-year average of about $17 billion. Barclays analysts, including Peter Troisi, are calling for about $30 billion in the third quarter, with most of that expected this month.
Bank of America Corp. reported trading and investment-banking results that topped analysts’ estimates, while Morgan Stanley’s trading business posted the biggest growth among its peers in the second quarter. The two lenders, along with Citigroup Inc. are also candidates to sell debt this month.
‘unwarranted’ angst
Systemically important global banks have borrowed an average of $21 billion in the U.S. senior market in the four weeks after earnings each year since 2014, JPMorgan analysts Eric Beinstein and Nathaniel Rosenbaum wrote in a research note on Tuesday.
“Many investors tend to be wary of bank spreads heading into these supply-heavy weeks, but historical data suggests this is unwarranted,” the analysts wrote.
According to the note, bank bond spreads — and in some cases bank stocks — have outperformed during weeks of heavy supply. The average spread for a financial institution’s bonds is just 4 basis points wider than the broadest high-grade index.
“This suggests that it is the strength of bank earnings that, over the past 10 years, has contributed to the outperformance of bank stocks and bonds,” they wrote.
–With assistance from Brian Smith and Tasos Vossos.
(Updates to show that offers have a price.)
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