Svenska Handelsbanken subsidiary Stadshypotek sold a $1.25bn (Eu970m) five year covered bond yesterday (Thursday), attracting some $1.7bn of demand in a return to form after a difficult euro benchmark in March.

Swedbank and Sveriges Riksbank came out as winners in The Covered Bond Report’s inaugural Awards for Excellence, which were announced on Tuesday, while Stadshypotek was highly commended.

An official at Stadshypotek said that the end result of a Eu1bn long five year covered bond benchmark on Tuesday was satisfactory, even though guidance had to be widened 5bp from initial price thoughts suggested by banks that turned out to be too aggressive.

SpareBank 1 SMN today (Thursday) emerged with a senior unsecured transaction that it had been targeting since at least October, when it went on the first of two roadshows, while Stadshypotek priced the first Nordic sterling covered bond on Monday.

Svenska Handelsbanken subsidiary Stadshypotek priced the longest dated Yankee covered bond since the financial crisis on Tuesday, a $1.5bn seven year deal that came only two business days after the issuer made its Kangaroo debut, while Swedbank made a $1bn senior dollar debut.

Sweden’s Stadshypotek is reopening the Kangaroo market for covered bonds with a dual tranche five year deal that is only the second to be sold into Australia by a European issuer since the crisis.