European banking and capital markets have provided unprecedented levels of funding and record volumes of market support to assist businesses and economies during Covid-19, a report by AFME revealed today (22nd March). Key figures from the AFME Prudential Data Report include:
- 26% increase in investment grade debt issuance by EU non-financial corporations with €495bn raised in 2020, from €393bn in 2019.
- Highest lending support to corporates and SMEs in the past 13 years with euro area corporate net lending peaking at €122bn in March 2020 and UK corporate net lending peaking at £27bn also in March 2020.
- Record annual issuance in European sovereign debt with a total of €3,675 bn in bonds and bills as European sovereigns contend with the funding demands.
- An ESG COVID-19 recovery with European ESG bond issuance increasing 88.6% from €133.9 bn in 2019 to €252.6 bn in 2020, continuing the upward trend seen since 2015.
- 51% increase in equity underwriting with follow-on offerings rising by 69%, the largest annual amount of proceeds since 2017, and corporates raising €27 bn in convertible securities - the largest annual amount since 2009.
Julio Suarez, AFME Director of Research, said:
“European banks entered the COVID-19 crisis with the highest quarterly solvency and liquidity ratios on record allowing them to deploy their balance sheets to fully support their customers and the broader economies in which they operate during these unprecedented times. The industry remains very well positioned to extend these exceptional levels of assistance to their customers as they recover from the very challenging impacts from the pandemic.”
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AFME Contacts
Patricia Gondim
Interim Head of Media Relations
+44 (0)20 3828 2747
