BRFkredit sold a debut, Eu500m five year covered bond on Wednesday, and plans to return to the euro market in the fourth quarter and establish itself as a frequent issuer therein, with an official at the issuer citing the benefits of diversification away from the Danish market.

BRFkredit is set to launch an inaugural euro benchmark covered bond in a move that an official at the Jyske Bank subsidiary said will reduce its refinancing of Danish krone bonds while taking advantage of funding opportunities in the European market.

Spreads on Danish covered bonds being sold in the latest refinancing auctions widened in early sales in line with the pressures afflicting the broader financial markets, according to market participants, while the announcement last week of a planned Nykredit IPO has also been in focus.

Realkredit Danmark (RD) took the unprecedented step of cutting a three year covered bond auction from Dkr2.72bn to Dkr1.90bn (Eu255m) on Wednesday, citing dissatisfaction with orders for the sale, although the bulk of the week’s issuance was relatively smooth.

Nykredit Realkredit attracted more than Eu2bn of demand for a Eu800m 12 year non-call seven Tier 2 issue on Tuesday, taking advantage of the reopening of the subordinated debt market after having announced its third quarter results last week.

Danske Bank announced third quarter pre-tax profits of Dkr4.7bn (Eu630m) yesterday (Thursday), 9% below consensus expectations on the back of negative interest rates in Denmark and low activity, although the bank maintained its net profit guidance for the full year.

Jesper Berg joined the Danish FSA (Finanstilsynet) from Nykredit yesterday (Thursday) as its new director general.

Danske life insurance subsidiary Danica launched its first new bond issue since 2006 on Monday, a Eu500m (Dkr3.73bn) 30 year non-call 10 subordinated transaction that sold out at a level reflecting the challenging market conditions prevailing in credit markets this week.

Danske Bank launched a Eu1bn (Dkr7.5bn) five year covered bond on Tuesday amid a wave of supply that the market proved more than able to absorb, and further benchmarks are due early next week.

The latest Danish quarterly sales of bonds to refinance adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) achieved healthy bid-to-cover ratios after Nykredit Realkredit kicked off activity on Monday, with longer dated paper offering relatively high spreads particularly well bid.