Italian GSS debt market rebounds strongly in the first half of 2023
SustainAdvisory Srl
Climate Bond Initiative Advisor | Green Bonds External Reviewer
The cumulative total of green, social and sustainable (GSS) debt issued by Italian companies and listed on Euronext Borsa Italiana as of 30 June 2023 since 2014 has approached EUR100bn (EUR98.3bn).
In the first half of 2023, the volume of GSS bonds of Italian issuers amounted to EUR19.7bn, which compares to EUR8.1bn in the same period of 2022 (+144%) and EUR22.8bn in the 12 months of 2022. A similar dynamic is seen for the number of issues, which was 26 in H1 2023 equal to the number of issues in the 12 months of 2022. ?
In 2023, financial companies were the most dynamic issuers, having reported a 55% increase in issued volumes compared to 2022; by contrast, the non-financial companies segment declined slightly (-4.2%). Insurance companies were stable and not very dynamic in this asset class, with an absence of 'green' sovereign issuance in the first half of 2023. The popularity of GSS debt among banks reflects their increased offer of green products to channel funding towards transition investments.
The prevailing theme area remains green bonds with 60% of volumes, sustainable and sustainability-linked bonds are growing steadily with 33% of volumes, while social bonds represent a residual share with around 7% of volumes declining year-on-year.?
领英推荐
?2023 is expected to be a record year for GSS debt issuance, which by the end of the year could exceed the volumes of 2021 (EUR32bn), the record year for green, social and sustainable issuance. The GSS debt market in 2022 suffered a significant decline due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the associated macroeconomic instability, which led to a general slowdown in investment and demand for the bond instrument.
?2023 started with a record sustainability-linked bond issue by oil & gas company ENI Spa offered to the retail market. The initial offer of EUR 1 billion was expanded to EUR 2 billion due to a higher-than-expected demand from the market, which reached orders of more than EUR 10 billion with a record oversubscription rate of 10 times.
?