California Resources up with oil futures; PetSmart down again in wake of CEO appointment

By James McCandless

San Antonio, May 30 – Traders reported a light day in the distressed debt market on Wednesday, with the energy sector continuing to lead trading.

California Resources Corp. notes traded up a day after major oil producing countries signaled their preference for lifting output caps.

PetSmart, Inc. issues fell again a week after the company announced the appointment of a new CEO.

Bristow Group Inc. paper declined, continuing a downward trend precipitated by a subpar Q1 report released last week.

Intelsat SA notes gained. Recently, the company released a disappointing Q1 report. Frontier Communications Corp. issues were up. The company is dealing with the aftermath of a recent failed auction. Mallinckrodt plc paper trended upward.

California Resources up

Los Angeles-based independent oil and gas producer California Resources’ notes gained, traders confirmed, as oil futures gained after days of decline. The fall was instigated recently as major oil producing nations signaled their intention to remove output caps at a future OPEC meeting.

“The bellwethers bounced back,” a trader said. “Oil came back up and that gave these and the sector a boost.”

The 8% notes due 2022 gained about 1½ points to close at around 88 bid.

On Tuesday, the 8% notes fell about 2¾ points. The 6% notes rose about 1¼ points.

PetSmart falls

Phoenix-based pet supplies retailer PetSmart issues declined again Wednesday, market sources confirmed. The company announced the appointment of retail executive J.K. Symancyk as its new chief executive officer last Monday.

The new CEO is expected to overcome the company’s decline most recently spurred by Amazon.com, Inc.’s announcement that it would be offering an in-house brand of dog food to its Prime subscribers.

The 5 7/8% notes due 2025 fell ¾ point to close at 68¾ bid. The 8 7/8% notes due 2025 shaved off about ½ point to close at around 47½ bid.

On Tuesday, the 5 7/8% notes lost ½ point and the 8 7/8% notes fell about ¼ point.

Bristow slides

Houston-based oil and gas aviation services company Bristow Group dropped again, traders confirmed. Last week, the company posted a loss of $2.84 per share in its Q4 report.

The 6¼% paper due 2022 fell about ½ point to close at around 77½ bid.

On Tuesday, the 6¼% paper fell about ¼ point.

Volume names trade

Luxembourg-based satellite communications company Intelsat paper traded up. A recent Q1 report showed a 56 cents per share loss, missing analyst estimates of 41 cents per share.

The Intelsat (Luxembourg) SA 7¾% paper due 2021 gained about ¾ point to close at 80¾ bid. The 8 1/8% paper due 2023 jumped up about 1 point to close at around 74½ bid.

Norwalk, Conn.-based wireline name Frontier Communications issues traded up. The company is working to regain investor confidence after a failed auction of its Florida assets, which did not produce bids that it considered satisfactory. The auction is part of its efforts to reduce debt.

The 7 5/8% notes due 2024 gained about ¾ point to close at around 68 bid. The 10½% notes due 2022 traded up about ¾ point to close at around 89¾ bid. The 11% notes due 2025 gained about ¾ point to close at around 80 bid.

Britain based drug maker Mallinckrodt saw its 4¾% paper due 2023 trade up about ½ point to close at 81 bid.

“The market bounced back today,” a trader said. “If that continues, then we should see more activity in our area. But we’ll take our cues from a few geopolitical events and how they impact the common market.”

© 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.