Preferreds see rebound; Citigroup's 6.875% preferreds list on NYSE; Seaspan recovers

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, Nov. 6 - Preferred stocks were "kind of bouncing around in a very narrow range," a market source said Wednesday.

It was an upward bounce, however, helping the market regain some of its recent losses.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index was up 6 basis points by the end of business.

Citigroup Inc.'s $1.3 billion issue of 6.875% series K fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds - a deal that came Oct. 24 - was officially admitted to the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday under the ticker symbol "CPK."

The paper was trading up 4 cents at par. However, one source called that flat on the day.

Meanwhile, Seaspan Corp.'s 7.95% series D cumulative redeemable preferreds were regaining some lost ground.

The preferreds (NYSE: SSWPD) closed up 21 cents, trading at $24.80.

The shares had fallen over 3% in the previous session after the Hong Kong-based containership company said it was pricing an add-on to the issue. The company sold an additional $50 million in the reopening and underwriters could sell another $7.5 million if they exercise an over-allotment option in full.

The company originally sold $67.5 million of the preferreds on Dec. 6, 2012. A $10,125,000 greenshoe was then exercised on Dec. 14, 2012, bringing total issuance up to $77,625,000.

Though one market source had opined that Tuesday's drop meant that the add-on would come at a discount, the preferreds were sold at par.

ING to call 8.5% hybrids

ING Groep NV posted third-quarter results early Wednesday and also said it was redeeming €4.7 billion of seven series of subordinated debt securities.

Additionally, the Dutch banking institution said it intended to call the 8.5% perpetual hybrid capital securities in December.

On that news, the securities (NYSE: IGK) were trading very actively, with over 2 million shares changing hands. The issue finished the day off 29 cents, or 1.12%, at $25.52.

For the quarter, ING reported net profit of €101 million, down from €659 million the year before. The company attributed the decline in profits to a €950 million loss from the sale of its South Korean insurance unit.

Underlying profits, however, increased to €891 million, which was up 5.6%.

ING said it was also nearly paid up with Dutch taxpayers, as it has been steadily repaying the €10 billion in bailout funds it received in 2008. After a €1.13 billion payment during the third quarter, ING now has just €1.5 billion left to pay out.

The bank said it expects to have repaid the government in full two years earlier than originally planned.

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