2019: An active year on the Schuldschein loan market
The Schuldschein loan market can look back on a successful year. As the German financial journal “Der Treasurer” reported on Monday, 2019 will continue the good performance of the previous year – even though the market volume cannot be quantified exactly. While the rating agency Scope expects a value of 28.7 billion euros – and thus a record year – Capmarcon is taking a somewhat more cautious view. By their estimate the total market volume was 26 billion euros.
According to the Stuttgart corporate finance consultancy, the figure is still 2.5 billion euros higher than in the previous year. At the same time the number of transactions has fallen: the ten largest Schuldschein loans alone accounted for 30 percent of the issue volume. The largest deal last year was made by ZF Friedrichshafen: With a total of €2.1 billion, the automotive supplier even broke the two-billion barrier.
The interest rate trend on the Schuldschein loan market was also largely positive in 2019. According to Scope, interest rates declined somewhat in the first half of the year, but rose in the second half, especially for companies with weaker credit ratings. Compared with the previous year, they were slightly higher overall. Der Treasurer
For the current year, Scope expects a further increase in terms of conditions – which could also lead to a lower overall issue volume. The rating agency is assuming a volume of 20 to 25 billion euros. Moreover, 2020 could become a “stress test” for the Schuldschein loan market in view of a possible economic downturn.
(Image rights: istockphoto.com/Warchi)