Western Alliance, PacWest sink; financials drop; DISH bonds soften, CDS spreads gap out

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., May 4 – Banking fears dominated the session Thursday with Western Alliance Bancorp and PacWest Bancorp sliding further.

Western Alliance Bancorp’s notes sank 10 points to more than 30 points on more than $28 million of secondary trading as the company sought to assure investors.

The bank’s 5¼% notes due 2030 (Ba1) plunged about 31 points to trade with a 42 bid handle on $11.2 million of volume on Thursday, a source said.

PacWest Bancorp also sold off after the issuer announced late Wednesday that it has explored strategic asset sales and strategic options and has been approached by several potential partners and investors with discussions ongoing.

PacWest’s $500 million of $25-par 7¾% perpetual preferred stock (//B) that priced in June 2022 finished down 46% at $6.24.

Other financial issuers were pressured during the session on lighter trading, a source said.

KeyCorp’s 5% perpetual securities (Baa3/BB+) dropped 10 points to a quote of 65 bid on $1.7 million of volume.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.’s 3.8% perpetual notes (Ba1/BB+) gave back more than 4 points to head out at 77¾ bid on $3 million of trading.

Meanwhile, DISH Network Corp.’s bonds were down about 2¾ points to 4¼ points, while its credit default swap spreads gapped out nearly 1,000 basis points this week, sources said.

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