* High yield issuance $17.58 billion in first quarter
* CSFB top high yield underwriter in March
* High yield issuance $7.54 billion in February
New York, March 28 - Credit Suisse First Boston was the top underwriter of high-yield bonds in the first quarter and also in March, according to data compiled by Prospect News.
CSFB, which was also first in February and for 2001 as a whole, brought to market $2.891 billion of junk bonds in the three month period.
Overall issuance picked up during the month, with a total of $7.537 billion of new high-yield debt coming to market, 46% better than February's $5.162 billion and 55% above January's $4.878 billion. Volume approached the busy pace of December 2001 when $8.019 billion came to market.
March was also better than the same month a year ago, with new deals 23% above that month's $6.142 billion.
However year-to-date issuance of $17.577 billion is still running 31% below the figure at the same point last year.
Average deal size is also significantly smaller, according to the Prospect News data, with deals in 2002 so far averaging $254.7 million compared to $350.1 million for the first quarter of 2001.
With March's biggest deal coming in at just $440 million - Avaya, Inc.'s offering of senior secured notes via CSFB and Salomon Smith Barney - no single deal stood out as having an impact on the underwriter rankings.
CSFB's number one position, for example, reflected its role as bookrunner on more deals than any other bank, a total of 17 compared to 12 for number-two placed Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown.
Away from the top spot, Deutsche Banc moved sharply up the rankings to the number two position from fifth year to date in February. The firm brought to market $1.129 billion of deals in March, only slightly behind CSFB at $1.291 billion. And Deutsche already has a start on next month as one of the three bookrunners on Boyd Gaming Corp.'s $250 million offering which will be counted in the April Prospect News data, reflecting its settlement date.
2002 First Quarter
2001 Comparables
| Underwriter | Amount | No. | Rank | Amount | No.
|
| 1. | CS First Boston | 2,890.70 | 17 | 3 | 2,943.25 | 15
|
| 2. | Deutsche Banc | 2,246.59 | 12 | 4 | 2,517.68 | 12
|
| 3. | Banc of America | 1,987.01 | 15 | 7 | 2,004.70 | 11
|
| 4. | Salomon SB | 1,951.44 | 15 | 1 | 5,133.85 | 17
|
| 5. | JP Morgan | 1,572.99 | 11 | 9 | 1,568.80 | 7
|
| 6. | Goldman Sachs | 1,496.85 | 4 | 5 | 2,372.45 | 6
|
| 7. | Lehman | 1,181.04 | 6 | 6 | 2,218.85 | 10
|
| 8. | Morgan Stanley | 1,159.46 | 7 | 2 | 3,212.48 | 10
|
| 9. | UBS Warburg | 1,005.41 | 5 | 10 | 812.10 | 4
|
| 10. | Merrill Lynch | 687.78 | 4 | 8 | 1,776.12 | 7
|
| 11. | Dresdner KW | 519.80 | 4 | - | - | -
|
| 12. | Wachovia | 299.47 | 4 | - | - | -
|
| 13. | Bear Stearns | 235.91 | 2 | 11 | 419.77 | 2
|
| 14. | CIBC | 186.72 | 2 | - | - | -
|
| 15. | ING | 128.01 | 1 | - | - | -
|
| Total | $17,576.67 | 69 | $25,553.63 | 73
|
|
|
| Average size | $254.73 | $350.05
|
|
|
|
|
| March 2002
|
| | | | | 2001 Comparables
|
| Underwriter | Amount | No. | Rank | Amount | No.
|
| 1. | CS First Boston | 1,290.70 | 10 | 2 | 969.80 | 4
|
| 2. | Deutsche Banc | 1,129.17 | 7 | 6 | 481.00 | 2
|
| 3. | UBS Warburg | 947.08 | 4 | 8 | 387.20 | 2
|
| 4. | Morgan Stanley | 881.45 | 5 | - | - | -
|
| 5. | Banc of America | 700.03 | 7 | 1 | 1,109.22 | 6
|
| 6. | Salomon SB | 697.08 | 5 | 11 | 250.00 | 2
|
| 7. | Merrill Lynch | 600.91 | 3 | 3 | 732.27 | 3
|
| 8. | Goldman Sachs | 500.00 | 2 | 10 | 295.40 | 1
|
| 9. | JP Morgan | 250.00 | 2 | 5 | 500.00 | 1
|
| 10. | Lehman | 200.26 | 2 | 4 | 698.35 | 4
|
| 11. | Wachovia | 153.64 | 2 | - | - | -
|
| 12. | Dresdner KW | 119.80 | 2 | - | - | -
|
| Total | $7,536.78 | 33 | $6,141.60 | 20
|
|
|
| Average size | $228.39 | $307.08
|
|
|
|
|
| Prospect News High Yield Underwriter Rankings
|
|
|
Criteria
* The tables include all dollar-denominated offerings sold in the U.S. as public or Rule 144A deals reported to Prospect News.
* Issues maturing in 397 days or less are excluded.
* Convertibles, trust preferreds, capital securities and preferred stock are excluded.
* Fixed-rate medium-term notes with a face value above $100 million are included. All other MTNs are excluded.
* Deals rated investment-grade by either Standard & Poor's or Moody's Investors Service are excluded but deals not rated by both are included.
* Offerings are included in the time period in which they settle.
* Amounts are based on the total sales price (face amount multiplied by the offering price). The full amount is credited to the bookrunner. For multiple leads, the total value is divided equally among joint bookrunners.
* Units made up of a bond and a warrant are included; other units are excluded.
* Sovereign issues are excluded.
* Each tranche is counted as a separate deal.
* Passthroughs, collateral trust and equipment trust certificates are included.
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