HOW TO STIR IN THE OIL
Two weeks before Enterprise Oil's 50 pounds sterling million Eurobond issue, Justn Welby, group treasurer at Enterprise, felt that the market was "getting interesting". He called in Schroder's to lead manage the issue, agreed on the terms, and waited. "We had a couple of weeks' discussion with them -- got things more or less lined up, then just waited for the day that seemed right and jumped."
At 9.30 on the morning of April 8, Welby phoned Schroder's and suggested that the time had come to launch the issue. "We had a chat," recalled Welby, "and they said: 'Well, it might go today. Wait half an hour and see how the market develops.'" Fifteen minutes later Schroder's called back, advising that the right moment had come. "I looked at the screen," said Welby. "Everybody screwed up their courage and I said: 'All right; we'll do it.'"
The issue sold quickly and needed no support -- a considerable triumph in a market uneasy about oil company paper. A week earlier, Lasmo had issued an almost identical 50 pounds sterling million seven-year Eurobond yielding 10.05 (coupon 10.125%; price 100.375),