As noted on this news service yesterday, Ryanair’s second eight-year Eurobond transaction priced at a spread over mid-swaps of 67 basis points, after initial guidance of MS+80bps. The final coupon of 1.125% is the lowest ever Eurobond coupon in the airline sector for a tenor longer than five years and it is the lowest Eurobond coupon ever for an Irish corporate. It has the joint lowest Eurobond airline coupon ever (excluding convertible bonds) since Lufthansa also priced at 1.125% last year, but the tenor on the Lufthansa Eurobond was lower at five years and so not directly comparable. The mid-swaps spread on the Lufthansa bond was also wider at MS+ 75bps.
The three times oversubscribed Ryanair Eurobond raised €850 million. BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB and Citibank are active bookrunners, with Citi also acting as Billing & Delivering agent on the transaction.
“This is the advantage of having a great rating and a registered EMTN programme; allowed Ryanair to quickly and efficiently take advantage of Euro market conditions. Coupon of 1.125% now isn’t that phenomenal?” said Munawar Noorani, Citi.
Jose Abramovici, Credit Agricole CIB’s Global Head of Asset Finance Group, says: “Ryanair has attracted very attractive pricing conditions in line with its superior credit quality.”
This is the second Eurobond from Ryanair. The low-cost airline launched its debut seven-year Eurobond in June 2014, which was eight times oversubscribed. It launched at €500-750 million but closed at €850 million. That deal priced at midswaps +85 basis points (initial guidance was released at the 100bp area), and carried a coupon of 1.875%.
Ryanair is currently rated BBB+ (stable) by Fitch and BBB+ (stable) by Standard & Poor’s. This latest issuance is part of Ryanair’s broader €3bn Euro Medium Term Note programme (EMTN).