Distressed energy, mining bonds lose ground; Cumulus debt stays weak on possible exchange

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, March 24 – The distressed bond market faltered in Thursday trading amid muted liquidity.

The session ended early due to the Good Friday holiday.

A trader said a fair bit of the day’s activity centered on recently priced deals.

Away from new deals, a trader said energy and mining names were coming in along with commodity prices.

Domestic crude oil was trading under the $40-mark for the second day, even as Baker Hughes reported active U.S. drill rigs fell by 15 last week. That news did little to ease concerns of a supply glut after Wednesday’s report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed a crude inventory build of 9.4 million barrels last week.

A trader saw Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s 3.872% notes due 2019 dipping nearly a point to 41. Another trader said the 8% second-lien notes due 2022 dropped 3 points to a 50 to 51 zip code.

EP Energy Corp. – which had run up earlier in the week on news of a $420 million asset sale – was also weaker, a trader said. He saw the 9 3/8% notes due 2020 declining 3 points to 51¾.

In the mining arena, Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s 3.55% notes due 2022 were deemed down 2½ points at 70½.

Cumulus Media Inc.’s 7¾% notes due 2019 were losing ground on Thursday, as the market continued to react to news of a potential exchange offer.

One trader called the issue off almost a point at 38¾.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.