Noble upsizes; high-yield trading mixed on Fed’s rate hike; energy names down as oil falls

By Colin Hanner and Paul A. Harris

Chicago, Dec. 14 – The high-yield primary market saw a single deal on Wednesday, Noble Holding International Ltd.’s $1 billion of 7¾% seven-year senior notes.

The company doubled to size of the non-callable notes (B1/BB-) from $500 million and priced those notes at 98.01 to yield 8 1/8%.

In spite of late-Wednesday announcements from Gulfport Energy Corp. and Diamondback Energy, Inc., the conclusion of the 2016 new issue market appears to be at hand, sources said.

Trading was mixed on news that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by a quarter of a point, although most of the downward movement was felt in newly issued, tightly priced bonds, a trader said.

In new and recent issues, Carlson Travel Inc. was up marginally in several of its recent issues, RSP Permian, Inc. was down on the day, and others like Concho Resources, Inc. traded above their par issue prices but remained almost unchanged on the day.

The decision also caused a downturn in equity markets and oil prices, bringing high-yield exploration and production bonds down in tandem.

Weatherford International Ltd. was down several points, as was California Resources Corp., Superior Energy Services Inc. and Transocean Inc.

After announcing on Tuesday that it would not repay $57.1 million of its senior notes held by Clear Channel Holdings, iHeartMedia, Inc. continued to climb after a short period of losses in early-morning trading a day prior.

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