Munis end flat to firmer as South Carolina sells university bonds; Memphis-Shelby County prices

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Feb. 10 - Municipals were largely unchanged on Thursday with some firmness seen in spots, said market insiders.

"There are spots of firmness here and there, but we're mostly flat," said one trader.

"We've seen good demand today, more than I've seen in a while, so that's good news, and that seems to be helping out the general tone."

Alan Schankel, managing director with Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, said Thursday that there's even more good news in the market - sort of - as outflows from mutual funds slowed.

"The 10- and 30-year MMA benchmarks were unchanged at 3.48% and 5.20%, respectively, [on Wednesday]," said Schankel.

"If weekly mutual fund flows were reported at $1.2 billion six months ago, we would have been aghast, but this reported number for last week brought some relief after 12 weeks of outflows averaging near $3 billion."

South Carolina brings bonds

Moving to Thursday's primary calendar, the State of South Carolina brought $120.275 million of series 2011 state institution bonds for several universities on Thursday, said pricing sheets.

The sale included $62.37 million of series 2011B state institution bonds for Clemson University, $15 million of series 2011C state institution bonds for Midlands Technical College, $18.95 million of series 2011D state institution bonds for the Medical University of South Carolina and $23.955 million of series 2011E state institution bonds for the University of South Carolina.

The bonds (Aaa/AA+/AAA) were sold competitively.

The bonds are due 2012 to 2031 with coupons from 2% to 5%.

Proceeds will be used to finance capital improvements to the higher educational facilities as well as refund existing debt.

Memphis deal flies

Also during the session, the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority of Tennessee sold $111 million of series 2011 refunding revenue bonds, said a term sheet.

The offering included $96 million of series 2011A-1 AMT bonds and $15 million of series 2011A-2 non-AMT bonds.

The bonds (A2/A-/A+) were sold through Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc.

The 2011A-1 bonds are due 2012 to 2022 with 3% to 6% coupons. The 2011A-2 bonds are due 2011 to 2018 with 3% to 5.5% coupons.

Proceeds will be used to refund the airport authority's series 1999D and 2001A AMT bonds.

Port of Seattle bonds price

Elsewhere, the Port of Seattle priced $104.215 million of series 2011 limited tax general obligation and general obligation refunding bonds on Thursday, said a pricing sheet.

The bonds (Aa1/AAA/AAA) were sold through Barclays Capital Inc. with Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. as the co-managers.

The deal included $74 million of series 2011 AMT G.O. refunding bonds and $30.215 million of series 2011 taxable G.O. bonds.

The AMT G.O. refunding bonds are due 2011 to 2025 with 3% to 5.75% coupons. The 2011 G.O. bonds are due 2014 to 2015 and have 2.254% and 3.068% coupons, respectively, both priced at par.

Proceeds will be used to reimburse the port for the construction of the Rail Corridor as well as to refund its series 2000B bonds.

New York deal ahead

Looking out on the horizon, the New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. is slated to come to market during the week of Feb. 14 with $134.14 million of series 2011A state revolving funds revenue bonds, said a preliminary official statement.

The bonds (Aaa/AAA/AAA) will be sold on a negotiated basis with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Ramirez & Co. Inc. as the senior managers.

The bonds are due 2011 to 2022.

Proceeds will be used to finance or refinance clean water and drinking water projects.

Based in Albany, the corporation provides low-cost funding for environmental projects throughout the state.

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