S&P cuts Chesapeake Energy, notes, convertibles

S&P said it lowered the corporate credit rating on Chesapeake Energy Corp. to SD from CCC and the ratings on its 2.5% contingent convertible senior notes due 2037 and 6½% senior notes due 2017 to D from CC.

"The downgrades reflect our assessment that the debt for equity exchange on Chesapeake's 2.5% contingent convertible senior notes due 2037 and 6½% notes due 2017 was a distressed exchange based on the holders receiving less than face value, and our view that the company is facing a potential sharp liquidity contraction next year," S&P credit analyst Paul Harvey said in a news release.

Moody’s lowers Penn Virginia, notes

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded Penn Virginia Corp.’s probability of default rating to D-PD from Caa3-PD following the company's filing voluntary petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, seeking relief under the provisions of Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

The agency also downgraded Penn Virginia’s corporate family rating to Ca from Caa3 and senior unsecured notes to C from Ca.

The speculative grade liquidity rating was affirmed at SGL-4 and the outlook remains negative.

Moody's will withdraw all of Penn Virginia’s ratings and outlook in the near future.

S&P cuts Permian Resources to SD

S&P said it revised its corporate credit rating on Permian Resources LLC (formerly American Energy – Permian Basin LLC) and parent company Permian Resources Holdings LLC (formerly American Energy Permian Holdings LLC) to SD from CCC+.

At the same time, the agency revised its issue-level rating on the company's exchangeable junior subordinated notes due 2022 (held at parent company Permian Resources Holdings) to D from CCC-. The recovery rating on this debt remains 6, reflecting an estimate of negligible (0% to 10%) recovery to creditors in the event of a payment default.

S&P also affirmed its B rating on the company's first-lien debt. The recovery rating remains 1, reflecting an estimate of very high (90% to 100%) recovery to creditors in the event of a payment default.

In addition, the agency affirmed its CCC- issue-level rating on the company's second-lien and unsecured notes. The recovery rating remains 6, reflecting an estimate of negligible (0% to 10%) recovery to creditors in the event of a payment default.

"The downgrade follows the company's disclosure that since Dec 31, 2015, it repurchased $203 million in par value of its exchangeable junior subordinated notes due 2022 – held at parent company Permian Resources Holdings LLC – for $21.5 million in cash, through one negotiated deal and several open market transactions," S&P credit analyst Carin Dehne-Kiley said in a news release.

"We view these well below par repurchases as distressed exchanges, given our belief that there was a realistic possibility of default over the next one to two years prior to the transactions."

Moody’s lowers Griffon notes to B2

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed Griffon Corp.’s B1 corporate family rating and B1-PD probability of default rating.

At the same time, the agency downgraded the rating on the company's senior unsecured notes to B2 from B1, which was in accordance with Moody's Loss Given Default model (LGD) and is reflective of the newly proposed capital structure that takes into consideration the $100 million add-on to the company's existing senior unsecured notes.

If the company upsizes and were to issue more than $125 million, the ratings could face pressure. On a pro forma basis, the notes have a balance of $700 million, up from $600 million prior to the transaction.

Concurrent with this action, Moody's affirmed the company's SGL-2 speculative grade liquidity rating.

The outlook remains stable.

S&P revises Griffon note recovery to 4

S&P said it affirmed its BB- issue-level rating on Griffon Corp.'s $600 million 5¼% senior unsecured notes due 2022, which are being increased to $700 million via a $100 million add-on, issued under its existing indenture.

The recovery rating was revised to 4 from 3, indicating an expectation of average (30%-50%; at the lower end of the range) recovery in the event of default.

The company plans to use the proceeds to pay down existing borrowings on its $350 million senior secured revolving credit facility due 2021 and to provide future liquidity for general corporate purposes.

Fitch assigns A+ to Intel notes

Fitch Ratings said it assigned an A+ rating to Intel Corp.'s benchmark sized senior unsecured notes issuance.

Proceeds are expected to be used for refinancing existing debt scheduled to mature during 2016 and 2017.

Fitch currently rates the company’s long- and short-term issuer default ratings A+/F1.

The outlook is stable.

Intel had about $25 billion of debt outstanding as of April 2, including $2.1 billion of subordinated debt.

The notes will rank pari passu with all other unsecured and unsubordinated debt of Intel. The notes will be issued under an indenture dated March 29, 2006 as supplemented.

Fitch said it expects Intel's very strong market positions in the data center and personal computers (PC) to provide significant revenue scale, with cloud markets growing 40% annually offsetting high-single digit PC market (60% of revenues) declines.

S&P lowers Hynix to stable

S&P said it revised the outlook on SK Hynix Inc. to stable from positive.

The agency also said it affirmed the company’s BB+ long-term corporate credit rating.

The outlook revision reflects an expectation that challenging memory semiconductor market conditions will put some pressure on the company’s operating performance and cash flow over the next 12 months., S&P said.

The global memory industry has been in a down-cycle starting from late 2015, as evidenced by recently weakening operating performance, the agency explained.

This down-cycle is primarily attributable to weaker-than-expected chip demand from PCs and smartphones because of a weak global economy and market saturation, S&P said.

Continued intense competition, particularly in the NAND flash memory market, also has resulted in higher-than-expected drops in selling prices, the agency added.

The industry will continue to demonstrate high cyclicality because of capital and technology intensity, the volatility should moderate somewhat after years of industry consolidation, S&P said.

S&P lifts Hologic to positive

S&P said it affirmed Hologic Inc.’s BB corporate credit rating and revised the outlook to positive from stable.

The outlook revision reflects the increased confidence in the company’s ability and commitment to maintaining debt leverage of less than 3x, S&P said.

Hologic has steadily decreased its debt-to-EBITDA from leverage in excess of 4x in 2014 and stated its intention to keep this ratio less than 3x, the agency said.

The ratings consider the company’s fair business risk profile despite improving operating trends, S&P said.

The diagnostics business operates within a highly competitive environment with constant pricing pressure, although the company has a strong market share, the agency said.

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