By Emese Bartha, The Wall Street Journal

Typical. You wait four years for a new Greek government bond, and then two come along at once. (Kind of.)

The grand post-bailout return to the bond markets came in April with a blowout transaction that drew plenty of enthusiastic buyers and a slender price tag for Greece. Since issue, the bond has done well.

Now Greece is expected to come back again, and soon, officials have indicated. A three-year transaction is seen as likely, prompting some weakness in the bond issued in April as investors sell some of that to make room for the new debt.

Why pounce now?

Firstly, in the current environment of low interest rates investors are thirsting for relatively higher yields. Greek yields have come down a long way, but still, when compared to their euro-zone peers, Greek bonds fit the bill.

Secondly, Greece’s recent €3 billion ($4.02 billion) bond issuance in April was a resounding success. The 2019-dated bond was issued at a yield of 4.95% (the country’s 10-year bonds yielded more than 11% just a year earlier), and now, less than three months later, it’s trading at 4.18%, according to Tradeweb. In other words, investors who bought the bond have made a profit on their investment. Prices rise as yields fall.

Thirdly, following Greece’s €200 billion debt restructuring in 2012, where the shortest-dated bond became one maturing in 2023, the country has lacked short-dated bonds. Greece has begun to fill this gap with the 2019-dated debt but analysts say it has always been clear that its intention was to build up the curve again for shorter-dated paper.

“This scarcity value should continue lending support to Greek government bonds with demand from high-yield investors outstripping supply,” said David Schnautz, rates strategist at Commerzbank.

In his view, a three-year bond at around 2.90% would offer plenty of sweeteners–around 1.30 percentage points–over Portugal’s 2017-dated bond, and would probably still leave plenty of potential to perform in secondary markets following the initial issuance.