Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt on Wednesday sold a Eu500m five year covered bond that was twice oversubscribed at the same time as achieving “ambitious” pricing, and an official at the Norwegian issuer said that recognition of the credit is increasing.

Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt on Wednesday sold the first Norwegian euro benchmark covered bond of the year, a Eu500m seven year that achieved tighter pricing than some market participants had expected, and an official at the Norwegian issuer said it may become a more frequent visitor to euros.

Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt sold a Eu500m no-grow five year covered bond on Thursday of last week (9 January), having seen “no reason to wait” to tap the market early in the year given strong market conditions, an official at the issuer told Nordic FIs & Covered.

Norway’s Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt priced its first benchmark euro covered bond in more than one-and-a-half years yesterday (Wednesday), a Eu500m no-grow five year deal that an official at the issuer said went “smoothly and swiftly” and bodes well for an envisaged increase in euro issuance.

Nordea Bank Finland reopened the euro benchmark covered bond market with the first such trade since the end of July on Tuesday, issuing a Eu1.5bn five year transaction, while Sparebanken Vest has announced a euro roadshow mandate.

Fitch affirmed the ratings of Norway’s Sparebanken on Tuesday, saying that their current ratings of A or A- reflect the sound asset quality and good capital and leverage ratios of the banks.