France sells 8.47 bln euros of BTANS at auction

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - France sold 8.47 billion euros of government bonds at auction on Thursday, with a smooth sale that analysts said drew reasonable demand and was supported by sizeable cashflows. The French treasury sold 3.15 billion euros of September 2012 BTANs FR100912B=, 1 billion euros of July 2013 paper FR080713B= and 4.313 billion euros of July 2015 BTANs FR100715B=. [ID:nTAR01161]

"The results were OK. Again we saw demand at the top of the range. It makes sense because in August we had both OAT and BTAN auctions cancelled ... so demand was there," said Ioannis Sokos, strategist at BNP Paribas.

Average yields fell for all three French issues, compared with a previous sale.

Around 10 billion euros of French BTAN bonds matured this week, providing funds for reinvestment.

The sale comes after higher-yielding issuer Spain found strong investor appetite for longer-dated bonds earlier in the session.

Euro zone supply this week has been heavy at nearly 30 billion euros, but sales have been supported by large redemption and coupon payments returning funds to investors.

France will sell up to 1.8 billion euros of 2019 and 2022 euro zone inflation-protected debt later in the session.

(Reporting by William James)