Northern Oil notes active on Q4, full-year numbers; FirstEnergy subsidiary notes stay busy

By James McCandless

San Antonio, Feb. 22 – The distressed debt market remained quiet for another day Thursday, traders said, as they chalked it up to people remaining dubious about jumping back in after a long weekend.

Notes in Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. jumped in activity as the company announced its fourth quarter and full year numbers on Thursday.

Subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp. continued a week of high volume after announcing top-level executive changes and 2017 losses on Tuesday.

Windstream Holdings, Inc. paper was active as the company announced better-than-expected fourth quarter losses.

Elsewhere in distressed telecom, Frontier Communications Corp. and Intelsat SA shored up much of the day’s volume. Mallinckrodt plc remained a heavily sought name in the healthcare space as Revlon, Inc. was heavily active in retail.

Northern Oil releases numbers

Notes in Minnetonka, Minn.-based independent oil and gas name Northern Oil and Gas returned to high volume levels seen recently, a trader said, as the company announced fourth quarter and full year results Thursday. The company reported a net loss of $23.8 million for the quarter, but interim president Brandon Elliott expressed confidence in the company for 2018 in a release.

“Strong fourth quarter results, including 9.3% sequential production growth, provided an excellent finish to the year and outstanding momentum as we enter 2018,” Elliott said. “We are seeing excellent results from wells added to production during 2017, suggesting significant upside to the value from enhanced completions that resides within the entirety of our acreage position.

The 8% notes due 2020 traded up about 2 points to close just below 86 bid.

FirstEnergy active

Akron, Ohio-based electric company FirstEnergy’s subsidiaries saw their issues in high volume on Thursday, a market source confirmed. Issues have been active since Tuesday’s announcement that FirstEnergy would make top-level management changes, including installing Donald Misheff as chairman of the board as current chairman George Smart retires in May. The company also announced a total loss of $1.7 billion for 2017.

FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.’s 6.05% issues due 2021 remained level at 36 bid. The 6.8% bonds due 2039 ticked up about ¼ point to close above 34½ bid.

Windstream active on numbers

Paper in Little Rock, Ark.-based communications solutions company Windstream was active for a second day as the company announced a $1.84 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2017. While negative, market sources said that the result surpassed analyst expectations.

The 7¾% paper due 2021 rose ¾ point to close at 73 bid. The 7½ paper due 2022 gained ¼ point to close at 68¼ bid. The 6 3/8% paper due 2023 shot up 5 points to close at 60½ bid.

Other volume favorites active

Elsewhere in the telecom space, Norwalk, Conn.-based wireline telecom name Frontier Communications continued its run of high activity after the recent news that the company had achieved its goal of increased debt flexibility through positive changes to its credit agreements.

The 7 5/8% notes due 2024 dropped about a point to close at 61¼ bid. The 10½% notes due 2022 traded down to close near 83 bid. The 11% notes due 2025 fell almost ½ point to close near 76½ bid.

Luxembourg-based satellite communications company Intelsat’s 5½% issues due 2023 remained level at around 79 bid while the Intelsat Jackson SA 7¼% issues due 2020 fell slightly to close at 88¾ bid.

Britain-based drug maker Mallinckrodt’s paper has been active since the company completed the $1.2 billion acquisition of Rockville, Md.-based medical application name Sucampo Pharmaceuticals.

The 4¾% paper due 2023 rose about 2½ points to close at around 79¼ bid.

New York City-based cosmetics producer Revlon saw its notes return to the high volume of recent weeks, spurred by the departure of chief executive officer Fabian Garcia after a tenure mired by increasing revenue losses.

The 5¾% notes due 2021 fell almost 1½ point to close at 80½ bid. The 6¼% notes due 2024 rose ¾ point to close at 68½ bid.

“This week has been tough,” a trader said. “I hope we get a little more activity tomorrow, but the beginning of the week was a terrible start so I am not sure.”

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