CaixaBank issues €1,000 million in three-and-a-half year senior bonds with demand for more than €2,800 million

International investors accounted for 65% of the placement

• The issue is the fourth this year on the capital markets. In the first half €2,000 million in senior bonds and €1,000 million in mortgage covered bonds were issued.
• This issue price was better than expected at 170 basis points over the mid-swap, thanks to the strength of demand.
• This placement will strengthen CaixaBank's outstanding liquidity levels. At the end of the first half Caixabank had liquidity of €64,604 million.

CaixaBank, the leading financial institution in the Spanish market and one of the largest in the Euro Area by market capitalization, today successfully completed a €1,000 million issue of three-and-a-half year senior bonds in the capital markets with demand for more than €2,800 million.

The issue price was set at 170  basis points over the mid-swap , the benchmark for this type of issue, below the initial price (180 bp) due to the strength of demand. The coupon was 2.5% and the cost of the issue implies a spread of 18.5 basis points over Spanish Treasury bonds in the same period.

This latest issue forms part of the 2013 financial plan aimed at shoring up CaixaBank's already outstanding liquidity position, which stood at €64,604 million at 30 June, all of which is immediately available. This represents 18.4% of total assets. The increase in liquidity in the second quarter stood at €3,279 million, bringing the increase in the year to date to €11,512 million.

CaixaBank also remains highly solvent, with a Core Capital ratio (Basel II) of 11.6% at the end of the first half of 2013.

A strong take-up for CaixaBank issues

In the first few months of the year, CaixaBank carried out three issues for €3,000 million, with strong take-up among investors. In January, CaixaBank successfully completed an issue for €1,000 million of three-year bonds, with demand for more than €5,000 million. In March, it placed an issue of five-year mortgage covered bonds for €1,000 million, with demand for more than €2,500 million.

The bank, with Isidro Fainé as Chairman and Juan María Nin as CEO, has taken advantage of the favorable market conditions to resume its programme of institutional issues, highlighting wholesale investors' confidence in and appreciation of its strengths. The response of institutional investors to this issue was very robust, with more than 150 orders received, with interest especially strong among international investors. This underlines the level of interest in CaixaBank's issues outside Spain.

International investors account for 65% of the placement

65% of the issue was placed among international investors, in particular from the UK, France and Germany, and participants included investment and pension fund managers, central banks, insurance companies and private banks. Spanish investors accounted for 35% of the placement.

CaixaBank expects Moody's, Fitch, Standard & Poor's and DBRS to assign respective long-term ratings of Baa3, BBB-, BBB and A (low) to this senior bond issue. The operation is considered a benchmark placement, so the instruments can be traded on the leading international bond markets.

The placement agents were CaixaBank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Santander and Société Générale.