PBF steady on downgrade; AMC flat; Wynn Las Vegas, Macau, MGM, casino bonds under pressure

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Sept. 15 – PBF Holding Co. LLC’s paper remained steady to slightly better Wednesday following a Moody’s Investors Service downgrade.

The unsecured paper was trading around 59½, 60 and mostly flat to slightly better on the day, a source said.

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.’s notes were unchanged to about 1 point higher Wednesday, a source said.

The debt markets ended mostly stronger in a risk-off tone with oil futures more than $1.50 higher and measured volatility down 6.5% over the day.

“Everyone is just buying,” one source said. “There’s not any real sellers.”

Meanwhile, gaming bonds were mostly under pressure at the prospect of tighter China casino regulations, sources reported.

Wynn Las Vegas LLC’s paper was among the heavily traded junk issues in the secondary market Wednesday.

The company’s 5½% senior notes due March 2025 (B1/BB-) were down about 3 points midmorning before clawing back losses to end the day down 1 7/8 points.

Wynn Macau Ltd.’s paper dove about 3¾ points to 6 points by the finish.

The 5 1/8% senior notes due December 2029 (B1/BB-) opened the day down nearly 8 points and closed off 6 points.

PBF mostly up

PBF Holding’s paper traded flat to slightly better Wednesday, a source said.

The 9¼% senior secured notes due 2025 (B2/BB/BB) were unchanged at 91½ bid.

PBF’s 6% senior notes due 2028 (Caa1/B/) were up about ¼ point to ½ point at the 60 bid range.

Moody’s said Wednesday that it downgraded the Parsippany, N.J.-based petroleum refiner to B2 from B1 based on a heavy debt load that will keep its credit profile relatively weak.

Moody’s also lowered the secured notes to B2 from Ba3 and the unsecured paper to Caa1 from B3.

AMC steadies

AMC’s 12% second-lien senior secured notes due 2026 (Ca/C) were mostly unchanged at 94½, 95 by the market close on Wednesday, a source said.

The Leawood, Kan.-based movie theater chain’s notes improved ¼ point to over ½ point on Tuesday after adding 2½ points on Monday.

Casino paper down

In the casino space, Wynn Las Vegas’ paper was among the heavily traded junk issues in the secondary market Wednesday, a source said.

The company’s 5½% senior notes due March 2025 (B1/BB-) finished the session off 1 7/8 points at 103 7/8 bid. Secondary volume totaled more than $30.5 million.

The bonds went out Tuesday about ½ point lower at 105¾ bid.

Wynn Las Vegas’ 5¼% senior notes due 2027 fell 5/8 point to 103 bid in heavy secondary supply totaling over $64 million.

Wynn Macau’s 5 1/8% senior notes due December 2029 (B1/BB-) opened the day down nearly 8 points at 90 1/8 bid before recovering 2 points to head out at 92 bid on $2 million of secondary supply.

Wynn Macau’s 5½% senior notes due January 2026 (B1/BB-) fell 3¾ points to 97 bid on over $10 million of paper traded.

The notes were as low as 96½ bid at the start of the day.

Wynn Resorts Finance LLC’s 5 1/8% senior notes due October 2029 (B1/BB-) declined 2¼ points to 101¾ bid with the issue attracting more than $11 million of secondary volume on Wednesday.

MGM China Holdings, Ltd.’s 5 7/8% senior notes due May 2026 sank over 4 points to under the 101 bid range Wednesday.

Melco Resorts Finance Ltd.’s 5¼% senior notes due April 2026 (Ba2) dropped over 3 points at the start before easing back on losses and trading down 2 3/8 points to 101 bid on $8 million of secondary action.

Distressed index positive

The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF rose 13 cents to $88.14.

Crude oil prices settled up $1.86 to $2.15 on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate crude oil benchmark futures for October deliveries added $2.15 to settle at $72.61 a barrel.

Distressed index returns remained positive on Tuesday, according to the latest data.

The S&P U.S. High Yield Corporate Distressed Bond Index total return was 0.2% in the prior session, down from 0.43% on Monday.

Month-to-date total returns improved to 0.94% on Tuesday from 0.74% at the start of the week.

Distressed year-to-date total returns also rose to 28.88% from 27.63% on Monday.

© 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.