Compagnie de Financement Foncier, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crédit Foncier, said that it has issued EUR 1 bn of mortgage bonds with a maturity date of 10 years and a coupon rate of 4.375 %.

The issue - the second carried out by Credit Foncier this year in Europe - was launched after the bank received expressions of interest from a dozen investors keen to provide a total of EUR 400 mln in capital.

'The strong market appetite has allowed the issue to be carried out with a spread in line with indications provided to investors at the launch of the operation,' the French lender said.

A total of 44 investors subscribed to the issue, 39% of which were domestic companies. German and Austrian investors made up for a further 38% of the issue while Asian companies took a further 5%. In terms of sectors, the banking industry dominated the transaction by taking 58% of the bonds, while asset managers (21%), insurers and pension funds (14%) as well as central banks (7%) also participated in the bond issue.