"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning."
Albert Einstein
In a continuation of our previous analogy to the European flutter, as we enter 2012, the recent evolutions of the situation in Hungary which we discussed in our post "Mind the Gap...", warrant us this time around to ramble around how reminiscent the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy and empire (1867–1918) is with our European flutter. Could Hungary be the trigger in 2012? Before we enter yet another long credit conversation, for a change this time around, before our market overview, it is of importance to highlight the current situation in Hungary and contagion to Central Eastern Europe.
Back in October in our post "Long hope - Short faith" we discussed the worrisome Hungarian situation, which was also the main subject of our conversation "Leda and the (Greek) Swan and why Europe matters more for Emerging Markets".
We previously quoted an article by Geoffrey T. Smith from the Wall Street Journal on the subject and as we move into 2012, it will be paramount to monitor the risk of wholesale capital flight with the ongoing buildup of tensions in Hungary - "Austria Has a Déjà Vu Moment":
"the biggest threat to Austrian banks is still what it was in 2009—wholesale capital flight from emerging Europe."
On the 4th of January, Hungary's 5 year sovereign CDS widened by 65 bps, quoted 690-730 bps in the market, with limited liquidity and the CDS curve inverting in the process, meaning short dated protection is becoming more expensive than the 5 year point. We have seen this happening before with Greece, Portugal and others. The situation warrants caution as the Hungarian effect is spreading to other countries according to a market maker, spreading to Poland and Czech sovereign CDS, both trading wider in the process, Poland around 290 bps for the 5 year CDS and around 180 bps for Czech CDS 5 year.
As indicated by Simon Foxman in Business Insider article - Hungary's Currency Hits New Lows Amid More Signs Of Upheaval:
"The Hungarian forint weakened to its lowest value against the euro since last month—near its lowest level ever—at 319.4 amid worries that the political situation there is becoming untenable. Increasing attention is being paid to the small Eastern European country, at the center of Europe's other debt crisis.
The Hungarian government is running short on cash after it passed a law last week that could compromise the independence of its central bank. That law flaunted guidance from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, who provided the troubled country with €20 billion ($26 billion) a bailout back in 2008. Hungary is paying through the nose to borrow even short-term funding, and the cost of insuring Hungarian debt via credit default swaps hit a new record, at 655 basis points according to Bloomberg. It paid yields of 7.67% to borrow for a three-month term and raise 45 billion forint ($190 million) yesterday.
Domestic turbulence is complicating matters, with protestors taking to the street to protest the government's new constitution (which includes that controversial central bank law). According to the BBC, protests are focusing on three major issues:
·A clause that defends the "intellectual and spiritual unity of the nation," which opponents argue could result in repression of intellectual freedoms
·Inclusion of social issues like the right of the unborn child and the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman
·Changes to the electoral system which could empower the leading Fidesz party at the expense of the opposition
Popular support for the Fidesz party hit 18% in a December opinion poll cited by the BBC, although it still leads other parties. If the Hungarian government were unable to pay its bills, it could wreck the Austrian banking system, which has an estimated $226 billion in exposure to Eastern Europe and €1.14 trillion ($1.6 trillion) of assets held in the region. 10-year yields on Austrian government bonds—and indicator of stress on the country—are moving sharply higher this morning. They rose to 3.20%, the highest level since before a central bank stilled their rise earlier in the year."
At the time of our November conversation "Mind the Gap...", we reminded the new legislation which passed by the Hungarian government in relation to the ill-fated currency mortgages which burden Hungarian households:
"Under the new legislation borrowers can repay their mortgage in a single installment at a HUF/CHF rate of 180 or a HUF/EUR rate of 250. Current FX rates are around 239 for HUF/CHF and HUF/EUR is around 297, a 25% and 16% discount according to CreditSights."
In November we commented:
HUF/EUR rate was 297 at the time, and is now much higher (315), meaning losses for European banks and in particular the likes of Austrian Erste Bank exposed to these mortgages will be significantly higher - source Bloomberg. Given HUF/EUR is reaching new highs, Austrian banks exposed to these mortgages face significant additional losses. So yes, contagion to EM, and in particular Central Eastern Europe, which was highlighted as a key risk for 2011, is indeed starting to materialise early in 2012.
But before we delve more into the Hungarian dances (as a reference to the 21 lively Hungarian dance tunes by Johannes Brahms), and discuss some of our previous call for concerns, it is time for a quick market overview.
The 36 months LTRO set up on the 21st of December by the ECB is far from having the expected results in relation to alleviating concerns that banks will use the cheap funding provided to generate generous positive carry by buying peripheral bonds. 455 billion euros are deposited at the ECB earning a paltry 0.50% of interest for now - The liquidity picture in four charts. ECB Overnight Facility, Euro 3 months Libor OIS spread, Itraxx Financial Senior 5 year index, Euro-USD basis swaps level - source Bloomberg:
The Credit Indices Itraxx overview - Source Bloomberg:
Most credit indices remain in the "concern" area, with Itraxx Financial Subordinate 5 year CDS index around 530 bps, still indicating the unsecured subordinated financial market is shut down, while Itraxx Financial Senior 5 year CDS index is rising again towards the 300 bps in a very thin market. As indicated by a market maker, so far both clients and dealers are on the sidelines. The Itraxx SOVx index tied to 15 European Government sovereign CDS is on the rise as well getting closer towards its 385 record set up on the 25th of November. Similar story to what we wrote in January 2010, "European problems not going away in 2011", and not going away in 2012.
The current European bond picture, a story of ongoing volatility, with Spain now rising as well with Italy following recent news of regional funding issues in Spain (Valencia) - source Bloomberg:
So what about our CPDO EFSF? It seems French yields are now rising faster as we start a new year, Investors demanded a yield of 3.29% on the 3.25% OAT due in October 2021, last auction on 1st of December was 3.18% - source Bloomberg:
German 10 year government yield falling (flight to quality) while German 5 years sovereign CDS rising - source Bloomberg:
In relation to the deflation story still playing out in Europe, here is an update on 30 year Swiss bond yields now below 1%, nearly 100 bps lower than Japan 30 year bond yields - source Bloomberg:
But back to our main story, namely the Hungarian situation and contagion to Emerging Markets (EMEA).
During various credit conversations, we argued that the name of the game is survival of the fittest in the race to raise much needed capital. It seems Deutsche Bank is sharing our views as indicated in their Emerging Markets special publications published on the 6th of December entitled amusingly "Survival of the fittest":
EMEA dominates our list of the most vulnerable countries. Five countries (Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Poland, and Egypt) show up as highly vulnerable, though for different reasons. Egypt’s underlying vulnerabilities, for example, are fiscal first and external second. Ukraine’s risks are mostly external. Hungary’s vulnerability reflects a combination of risks in all four areas."
According to Deutsche Bank, for 2012, EMEA countries will be facing many difficulties and will need IMF support:
IMF support?
In our conversation "Leda and the (Greek) Swan and why Europe matters more for Emerging Markets", we already discussed at length the Western Europe banking deleveraging impact will have on Emerging Markets and in particular Central Eastern Europe. In their December note, Deutsche Bank also commented:
As indicated by Deutsche Bank, given Hungary exports to the euro area account for 40% of GDP, Hungary is arguably more exposed to a recession in Europe. The recent failed Hungarian auction and additional pressure on the Forint is definitely not helping.
And my good credit friend to comment on the 5th of January:
And suffer they already have, not only with the legislation capping the exchange rate on currency mortgages provided to Hungarian households (putting them in a difficult situation) we mentioned above but, also in relation to Goodwill impairments (which we discussed in our conversation "Goodwill Hunting Redux").
As a reminder:
It wasn't therefore a big surprise to us and our good credit friend to see a decline of 37% of UniCredit shares in three days following its 7.5 billion right issues priced with a 43% discount (selling shares for 1.943 euros each...).
Back in November in our Goodwill conversation we made the following warning:
"Tip for “banks’ friends”: First came dividends cuts, then bonds haircuts. Next, we will see some massive write-off (Goodwill ?). UniCredit started, others will follow. The path will be very painful for both shareholders and bondholders."
Given we already know that UniCredit made 60 billion USD worth of acquisition between 2005 and 2008, tracking goodwill impairments will indeed be a necessary exercise in 2012 as they can take a real chunk out of bank earnings in the process.
In relation to current bank exposure to Hungary, Deutsche Bank in their latest Hungarian sovereign risk review published on the 6th of December indicated the following:
Continuing on the same Hungarian theme in Deutsche Bank EMEA Daily Compass published on the 6th of December, we have to agree with their assessment of the situation for Hungary:
"The failure of yesterday’s a12M bill auction has ignited fears that the situation in Hungary may spiral into a solvency crisis triggered by an inability to roll-over upcoming LOCAL debt maturities.
From a medium term perspective, a useful rule of thumb for assessing debt sustainability is to compare the marginal real yield required to roll-over the existing stock of debt and the real growth rate of the economy Over the past 10 years, real growth has averaged 2.4% y/y while yearly inflation stood on average at 5.9%, which suggests that at the current blended (local and external) marginal rate of refinancing (10.5%), a consistent fiscal primary surplus of 2.2% would be required to maintain current public debt levels stable. It is clear to us that such a theoretical outcome is not credible for the market, i.e. paradoxically yields have reached a level that is too high to motivate buyers to participate in the financing of an issuer that is running an unsustainable debt position."
Deutsche Bank to conclude their note making the following point:
"As a conclusion, we expect events to unfold rather quickly in Hungary. It may come down to a choice between a partial loss of sovereignty in economic management or of a debt restructuring, to be made at the highest political level."
And has clearly indicated by Bloomberg's Chart of the day of the 4th of January, we have seen this movie before...
"Hungary’s failure to secure an international bailout has pushed the cost of insuring its debt against default above that of Ireland for the first time since September 2010.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows that credit-default swaps on Hungary rose to 720 basis points in London on the 3rd of January, compared with 709 for Ireland, according to CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles prices quoted by dealers in the privately negotiated market.
Hungary’s default swaps surged to the highest on record on the third of January and the forint weakened to an all-time low versus the euro after Citigroup Inc. said an International Monetary Fund deal is unlikely in the next six months and European Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said the European Union has no plans to resume aid talks."
"When there's uncertainty they always think there's another shoe to fall. There is no other shoe to fall."
Kenneth Lay - CEO and chairman of Enron from 1985 until his resignation on January 23, 2002.
Stay tuned!
Albert Einstein
In a continuation of our previous analogy to the European flutter, as we enter 2012, the recent evolutions of the situation in Hungary which we discussed in our post "Mind the Gap...", warrant us this time around to ramble around how reminiscent the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy and empire (1867–1918) is with our European flutter. Could Hungary be the trigger in 2012? Before we enter yet another long credit conversation, for a change this time around, before our market overview, it is of importance to highlight the current situation in Hungary and contagion to Central Eastern Europe.
Back in October in our post "Long hope - Short faith" we discussed the worrisome Hungarian situation, which was also the main subject of our conversation "Leda and the (Greek) Swan and why Europe matters more for Emerging Markets".
We previously quoted an article by Geoffrey T. Smith from the Wall Street Journal on the subject and as we move into 2012, it will be paramount to monitor the risk of wholesale capital flight with the ongoing buildup of tensions in Hungary - "Austria Has a Déjà Vu Moment":
"the biggest threat to Austrian banks is still what it was in 2009—wholesale capital flight from emerging Europe."
On the 4th of January, Hungary's 5 year sovereign CDS widened by 65 bps, quoted 690-730 bps in the market, with limited liquidity and the CDS curve inverting in the process, meaning short dated protection is becoming more expensive than the 5 year point. We have seen this happening before with Greece, Portugal and others. The situation warrants caution as the Hungarian effect is spreading to other countries according to a market maker, spreading to Poland and Czech sovereign CDS, both trading wider in the process, Poland around 290 bps for the 5 year CDS and around 180 bps for Czech CDS 5 year.
As indicated by Simon Foxman in Business Insider article - Hungary's Currency Hits New Lows Amid More Signs Of Upheaval:
"The Hungarian forint weakened to its lowest value against the euro since last month—near its lowest level ever—at 319.4 amid worries that the political situation there is becoming untenable. Increasing attention is being paid to the small Eastern European country, at the center of Europe's other debt crisis.
The Hungarian government is running short on cash after it passed a law last week that could compromise the independence of its central bank. That law flaunted guidance from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, who provided the troubled country with €20 billion ($26 billion) a bailout back in 2008. Hungary is paying through the nose to borrow even short-term funding, and the cost of insuring Hungarian debt via credit default swaps hit a new record, at 655 basis points according to Bloomberg. It paid yields of 7.67% to borrow for a three-month term and raise 45 billion forint ($190 million) yesterday.
Domestic turbulence is complicating matters, with protestors taking to the street to protest the government's new constitution (which includes that controversial central bank law). According to the BBC, protests are focusing on three major issues:
·A clause that defends the "intellectual and spiritual unity of the nation," which opponents argue could result in repression of intellectual freedoms
·Inclusion of social issues like the right of the unborn child and the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman
·Changes to the electoral system which could empower the leading Fidesz party at the expense of the opposition
Popular support for the Fidesz party hit 18% in a December opinion poll cited by the BBC, although it still leads other parties. If the Hungarian government were unable to pay its bills, it could wreck the Austrian banking system, which has an estimated $226 billion in exposure to Eastern Europe and €1.14 trillion ($1.6 trillion) of assets held in the region. 10-year yields on Austrian government bonds—and indicator of stress on the country—are moving sharply higher this morning. They rose to 3.20%, the highest level since before a central bank stilled their rise earlier in the year."
At the time of our November conversation "Mind the Gap...", we reminded the new legislation which passed by the Hungarian government in relation to the ill-fated currency mortgages which burden Hungarian households:
"Under the new legislation borrowers can repay their mortgage in a single installment at a HUF/CHF rate of 180 or a HUF/EUR rate of 250. Current FX rates are around 239 for HUF/CHF and HUF/EUR is around 297, a 25% and 16% discount according to CreditSights."
In November we commented:
HUF/EUR rate was 297 at the time, and is now much higher (315), meaning losses for European banks and in particular the likes of Austrian Erste Bank exposed to these mortgages will be significantly higher - source Bloomberg. Given HUF/EUR is reaching new highs, Austrian banks exposed to these mortgages face significant additional losses. So yes, contagion to EM, and in particular Central Eastern Europe, which was highlighted as a key risk for 2011, is indeed starting to materialise early in 2012.
But before we delve more into the Hungarian dances (as a reference to the 21 lively Hungarian dance tunes by Johannes Brahms), and discuss some of our previous call for concerns, it is time for a quick market overview.
The 36 months LTRO set up on the 21st of December by the ECB is far from having the expected results in relation to alleviating concerns that banks will use the cheap funding provided to generate generous positive carry by buying peripheral bonds. 455 billion euros are deposited at the ECB earning a paltry 0.50% of interest for now - The liquidity picture in four charts. ECB Overnight Facility, Euro 3 months Libor OIS spread, Itraxx Financial Senior 5 year index, Euro-USD basis swaps level - source Bloomberg:
The Credit Indices Itraxx overview - Source Bloomberg:
The current European bond picture, a story of ongoing volatility, with Spain now rising as well with Italy following recent news of regional funding issues in Spain (Valencia) - source Bloomberg:
So what about our CPDO EFSF? It seems French yields are now rising faster as we start a new year, Investors demanded a yield of 3.29% on the 3.25% OAT due in October 2021, last auction on 1st of December was 3.18% - source Bloomberg:
German 10 year government yield falling (flight to quality) while German 5 years sovereign CDS rising - source Bloomberg:
In relation to the deflation story still playing out in Europe, here is an update on 30 year Swiss bond yields now below 1%, nearly 100 bps lower than Japan 30 year bond yields - source Bloomberg:
But back to our main story, namely the Hungarian situation and contagion to Emerging Markets (EMEA).
During various credit conversations, we argued that the name of the game is survival of the fittest in the race to raise much needed capital. It seems Deutsche Bank is sharing our views as indicated in their Emerging Markets special publications published on the 6th of December entitled amusingly "Survival of the fittest":
EMEA dominates our list of the most vulnerable countries. Five countries (Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Poland, and Egypt) show up as highly vulnerable, though for different reasons. Egypt’s underlying vulnerabilities, for example, are fiscal first and external second. Ukraine’s risks are mostly external. Hungary’s vulnerability reflects a combination of risks in all four areas."
According to Deutsche Bank, for 2012, EMEA countries will be facing many difficulties and will need IMF support:
"Current account balances have improved in the last few years and central banks have been able to build bigger buffers of foreign reserves. But the large stock of external debt accumulated during the middle of the last decade still leaves the region with large external burden. Much of this borrowing took place in foreign currencies – Swiss franc mortgages in Hungary (20% of GDP) being just one example – the local currency burden of which is now being inflated as those currencies come under pressure. With these debts needing to be serviced on an ongoing basis, many countries still face large external financing needs even as their current account positions have improved. This is particularly true of Hungary and Ukraine, which have gross external financing needs of 30% of GDP or above in 2012 despite a moderate current account deficit in Ukraine and a small surplus in Hungary."
IMF support?
"Three of these countries (Hungary, Ukraine and Egypt) may well need to tap the IMF for financial support next year. Ukraine already has an IMF program (of which USD 12bn or 6.5% of GDP is potentially still available) but is currently looking first to Russia for cheaper gas prices to reduce its external financing needs. Hungary is seeking the reassurance of a precautionary IMF program although negotiation on the policy condition has not yet started and could well be difficult. Egypt had reached agreement in principle on a USD 3bn (1.2% of GDP) arrangement with the IMF but has yet to proceed with the deal for political reasons."
In our conversation "Leda and the (Greek) Swan and why Europe matters more for Emerging Markets", we already discussed at length the Western Europe banking deleveraging impact will have on Emerging Markets and in particular Central Eastern Europe. In their December note, Deutsche Bank also commented:
"The buildup of foreign currency debt was probably largely a reflection of relatively high and volatile inflation in some cases, leading to a large spread between domestic and foreign interest rates. But the availability of foreign currency loans was also facilitated by the rapid expansion of western European banks throughout much of the region. This has left many countries exposed to deleveraging by foreign banks as they seek to meet additional capital requirements imposed by the European Banking Authority. These requirements are largest for Greek, Italian, and Spanish banks, which may be a concern for Romania and Hungary (as well as Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria outside our sample) where Greek and Italian banks are most active. But other banks may also be reluctant to maintain their exposures in the region. Germany’s Commerzbank, for example, has indicated that it will temporarily suspend new lending outside of Germany and Poland. Austria’s central bank has also imposed limits on new lending in CEE by the subsidiaries of Austrian banks. And countries without strong parent-subsidiary ownership linkages are also unlikely to be immune. Turkish banks, for example, have substantially increased their short term external borrowing in the last couple of years (from foreign banks) and may face some difficulties in rolling these loans."
As indicated by Deutsche Bank, given Hungary exports to the euro area account for 40% of GDP, Hungary is arguably more exposed to a recession in Europe. The recent failed Hungarian auction and additional pressure on the Forint is definitely not helping.
And my good credit friend to comment on the 5th of January:
"The Hungarian Forint is under pressure again (EurHuf @ 321.50), and the country had problem raising 1 year T-Bills this morning (35 billion HUF instead of the 45 billion planned, the average yield rose to 9.96% versus 7.91% for the same kind of maturity on December 22nd). The cost of insuring Hungary’s debt through CDS reached an all-time high at 750 bps!
Basically, the country is now in a worst situation than Portugal, and without the IMF and EU assistance, the risk of a hard default is rising very quickly. Consequences for European banks exposed to this country are difficult to assess, but Erste Bank, Raiffeisen and some other players should suffer…"
And suffer they already have, not only with the legislation capping the exchange rate on currency mortgages provided to Hungarian households (putting them in a difficult situation) we mentioned above but, also in relation to Goodwill impairments (which we discussed in our conversation "Goodwill Hunting Redux").
As a reminder:
"Erste Bank in fact, wrote down the value of its Hungarian and Romanian units by a combined 939 million euros in October."
"UniCredit wrote down goodwill on assets in its home market, eastern Europe and former Soviet Union countries in its third-quarter earnings report in November (8.7 billion-euro impairment charge)".
It wasn't therefore a big surprise to us and our good credit friend to see a decline of 37% of UniCredit shares in three days following its 7.5 billion right issues priced with a 43% discount (selling shares for 1.943 euros each...).
Back in November in our Goodwill conversation we made the following warning:
"Tip for “banks’ friends”: First came dividends cuts, then bonds haircuts. Next, we will see some massive write-off (Goodwill ?). UniCredit started, others will follow. The path will be very painful for both shareholders and bondholders."
Given we already know that UniCredit made 60 billion USD worth of acquisition between 2005 and 2008, tracking goodwill impairments will indeed be a necessary exercise in 2012 as they can take a real chunk out of bank earnings in the process.
In relation to current bank exposure to Hungary, Deutsche Bank in their latest Hungarian sovereign risk review published on the 6th of December indicated the following:
"During the past days the Hungarian sovereign risk exposure has increased
significantly, taking the development of CDS prices as an indicator. Austrian banks have material exposure to Hungary, both via sovereign bonds and through loans. Erste Group has a total of EUR11bn in assets invested in Hungary (some EUR8bn in loans, some EUR3bn in sovereign exposure) while Raiffeisen Bank International has a total of EUR8bn in Hungarian assets (some EUR6bn in loans, some EUR2bn in sovereign exposure.
According to latest EBA data, as of 30 Sept 2011 the largest European banks have a total sovereign exposure of EUR31bn vis-a-vis Hungary. The data indicates the largest absolute exposures (combined net trading and banking book) are held by KBC with EUR6.9bn (of which EUR2.6bn was due within 3 months, so might have left the balance sheet by now), OTP with EUR4.2bn, Erste Group with EUR3.3bn, BayernLB with EUR2.2bn, Commerzbank with EUR2.0bn, Intesa with EUR1.7bn, ING with EUR1.7bn, RBI with EUR1.6bn. In some cases the maturity profile in the EBA spreadsheet was biased to short-term exposures, in some cases biased towards long-term exposures.
In relation to current market cap, high ratios result for KBC (c.220%), Erste Group (c.70%), RBI (c.40%) and Commerzbank (c.30%). A haircut on Hungarian sovereign exposure therefore would have meaningful implications for these institutions."
Continuing on the same Hungarian theme in Deutsche Bank EMEA Daily Compass published on the 6th of December, we have to agree with their assessment of the situation for Hungary:
"The failure of yesterday’s a12M bill auction has ignited fears that the situation in Hungary may spiral into a solvency crisis triggered by an inability to roll-over upcoming LOCAL debt maturities.
From a medium term perspective, a useful rule of thumb for assessing debt sustainability is to compare the marginal real yield required to roll-over the existing stock of debt and the real growth rate of the economy Over the past 10 years, real growth has averaged 2.4% y/y while yearly inflation stood on average at 5.9%, which suggests that at the current blended (local and external) marginal rate of refinancing (10.5%), a consistent fiscal primary surplus of 2.2% would be required to maintain current public debt levels stable. It is clear to us that such a theoretical outcome is not credible for the market, i.e. paradoxically yields have reached a level that is too high to motivate buyers to participate in the financing of an issuer that is running an unsustainable debt position."
Deutsche Bank to conclude their note making the following point:
"As a conclusion, we expect events to unfold rather quickly in Hungary. It may come down to a choice between a partial loss of sovereignty in economic management or of a debt restructuring, to be made at the highest political level."
And has clearly indicated by Bloomberg's Chart of the day of the 4th of January, we have seen this movie before...
The CHART OF THE DAY shows that credit-default swaps on Hungary rose to 720 basis points in London on the 3rd of January, compared with 709 for Ireland, according to CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles prices quoted by dealers in the privately negotiated market.
Hungary’s default swaps surged to the highest on record on the third of January and the forint weakened to an all-time low versus the euro after Citigroup Inc. said an International Monetary Fund deal is unlikely in the next six months and European Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said the European Union has no plans to resume aid talks."
"When there's uncertainty they always think there's another shoe to fall. There is no other shoe to fall."
Kenneth Lay - CEO and chairman of Enron from 1985 until his resignation on January 23, 2002.
Stay tuned!
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