British grocer Iceland's strategy to draw on euro as well as sterling funding to raise £475m-equivalent of December 2027 senior secured paper - to partially redeem 2025 sterling-denominated debt - has paid off, with the issuer achieving its size and pricing objectives.
The yield on the £265m December 2027 non-call two senior secured fixed-rate note was set at 11.125% at final terms, tightening from earlier price talk of 11.25%-11.50% and initial price thoughts of mid–to-high 11s. The bond's reoffer price is 99.204, with the coupon set at 10.875%.
The €250m December 2027 non-call one floating-rate note will price at Euribor plus 550bp and a 97 OID, the high end of the initial 96-97 range.
The issue is part of a larger exercise to tackle maturities in its capital structure, as the frozen food specialist (B3/B/B) is concurrently tendering for £500m of its £550m 2025 senior secured notes at par.
The transaction is only the third time a borrower has tapped sterling high-yield investors for size this year, following Travelodge on April 21 and Ford Motor Credit Company on February 27, which one banker away from the transaction attributed mostly to issuers' unwillingness to pay current market levels rather than low investor demand.
The banker said the sterling market remains "tricky" in terms of liquidity and price, as it still lags the recovery in the euro market. For that reason, UK-focused companies are also using other currencies to try to balance their funding needs with their pricing objectives. At the same time, though, Iceland has a UK investor following, so issuing in sterling is also important, even with unfavourable market pricing.
"There is still a big delta in price between euro and sterling. Clients are better off issuing in euros and swapping into sterling, which is what Iceland will do," he said, adding that the euro leg was signalling good pricing despite coming at a premium based on its credit ratings. The notes are rated B3/B/B+.
While existing holders were expected to make up the majority of book for the new issue, new accounts also placed orders. The banker said the rollover ratio was good, but noted demand from new investors exceeded expectations.
"We have a lot of demand from new guys and people who didn't own the bond. Some of the largest UK real money funds have given us very sizeable orders at a very competitive price," he said, adding that the trade was already oversubscribed.
Value
At IPTs, analysts recommended clients to participate in the new deal as they deemed the initial levels as attractive compared to secondary trading levels. But a euro high-yield investor said he would probably pull out if the yield on offer fell below 11.5%, as he saw better value in Iceland's outstanding 2028 bonds.
Working out fair value was not straightforward. Iceland's £250m 4.375% May 2028 bond, which is next callable in February 2024, is bid at a yield of 10.34% and cash price of 77.87, according to Tradeweb. It was quoted at 9.55% at Friday's close. Iceland's CDS and Asda 2026 bonds were also being factored in.
Proceeds from the new notes, together with £35m of cash on hand, will be used to repay £500m of the existing senior secured notes due 2025, including accrued and unpaid interest as well as £10m of transaction-related fees. As part of the transaction, Iceland intends to extend its revolving credit facility to November 30 2027.
Leaving £50m outstanding "will slightly reduce the additional interest burden for Iceland, and enable it to further reduce gross debt by repaying the bonds with excess cashflow", wrote Lucror Analytics' Si Yong Ng.
The broadly leverage-neutral transaction, except for minor fees, will lead to net leverage of 3.5x based on underlying adjusted Ebitda of £199m in fiscal year 2023, which shows a lower indebtedness than when it last tapped the market in 2021 and net leverage was 4x, according to a company presentation.
Recovery story
The supermarket chain has struggled with high energy costs and stubbornly high inflation in the UK, leading to store closures and punishing bond prices in the secondary market.
The company noted that 2023 was a strong year for net sales – with fiscal year 2023 net sales up 6.9% to £3.959bn – though adjusted Ebitda was heavily impacted by higher energy costs, especially during the second and third quarters. Management pointed to a strong start to fiscal year 2024 with adjusted Ebitda of £34m in the first quarter, roughly double that in the same period of the previous fiscal year, due to strong trading, cost savings and a reduction in energy costs. Management also said they are highly confident in achieving Ebitda growth in fiscal year 2024, as they have already purchased more than 95% of the company's energy requirements.
"They're issuing a bond whilst they are on the way to recovery and that means the bonds probably have a lot of convexity embedded in them," the banker with knowledge of the matter said, stressing their potential to trade up.
HSBC is B&D and logistics and joint global coordinator and physical bookrunner alongside JP Morgan.
Updated story: Adds final pricing, investor comment in 10th paragraph