insto - Australian financial markets

On the ASX, financial adviser Deloitte released data showing that there were 67 IPOs in the year to June 30, up from only 28 in financial 2009. The average price move for the 2010 floated companies was negative 10 percent. Deloitte said the best performed IPO was Mongolian coal explorer Hunnu Coal, with the shares rising 408 percent. Myer was among the worst, falling 23 percent. Eight of the ten best performers were in the resources sector. Overall, the S&P/ASX 200 added 8.8 percent for the financial year.

In a quarter where the major theme was the return of Aussie corporates to bond markets, the Brambles transaction stood out.

Brambles is a corporate which is well known in Australia and the UK, but not so much among uS investors, despite its strong operational presence in that country.

But when the company went to the united States’ 144a bond market in March, the response from the market was almost overwhelming.

CBA is on track for a record-breaking full year earnings result of $6 billion despite signs of headwinds in the early part of 2010. CBA last week announced interim net earnings of $2.94 billion for the six months to December 31 in a result which featured a continuing fall in bad debts, but a dip in underlying profit for the last quarter. For the quarter ended March 31, CBA announced an unaudited third-quarter cash profit of $1.5 billion, up 30 percent on the previous year. Analysts saw a slippage of margins offsetting the positive of lower bad debt charges.

Australia’s investment banking fee pool in Australia has fallen 68 percent in the first quarter of 2010 according to figures from Dealogic.

The Australian debt market had a fairly slow start to the week, picking up towards the end with a number of EMTN transactions from NAB and Volkswagen Australia, and Rabobank Australia created some activity going offshore with its transactions. Nordic Investment Bank also issued towards the end of the week. There was also a flutter of activity from the AOFM and a number of people moves.

 *Domestic Issuance*

2009. Three consecutive rate rises, record deal volumes, diverse issuers, and significant credit spreads. We saw the debut of government guaranteed issuance and semi-government syndicated transactions. We saw true corporate bonds and the rediscovery of retail funding channel. Australia proved that it can have a ferocious and healthy bond market, Sonia Han reports.