Diamond Sports, AMC decline; Transocean, Plains All American, PBF higher as oil climbs

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Jan. 6 – Distressed bond issuers including Diamond Sports Group LLC and AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. saw mostly declines in the secondary market on Thursday.

Diamond Sports Group’s paper was about ¾ point to 1½ points weaker after trading mostly unchanged in the prior session.

AMC Entertainment’s notes were mixed but mostly softer as the market continues to digest the chief executive officer’s hope to refinance debt in 2022.

Distressed secondary supply remained light in the session and was concentrated in energy, according to market sources.

Oil prices extended the New Year’s rally through Thursday and climbed over $1 during the session.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil benchmark futures for February deliveries jumped $1.61 to settle at $79.46 a barrel, up $4.25 week to date.

Energy paper traded about ¾ point to 2 points better on the day.

Transocean Inc.’s 7½% senior notes due 2031 (Ca/CCC) improved 7/8 point.

Plains All American Pipeline, LP’s 6 1/8% series B fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred units (Ba2/BB/BB) were over 1 point better.

PBF Energy Inc.’s 7¼% senior notes due 2025 (Caa1/B/B-) traded 2 points higher.

Overall market tone was mixed with stock indices lower.

The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF saw its first positive session of the year on Thursday and closed up 1 cent at $86.09.

Diamond Sports down

Diamond Sports’ 5 3/8% senior secured notes due 2026 (Caa1/CCC) fell 1½ points to 49½ bid in an active session on Thursday, a source said.

The notes were flat at 50¾ bid over the prior two sessions since climbing up ¾ point on Monday.

Diamond Sports’ 6 5/8% senior notes due 2027 (Ca/CC) fell ¾ point to 27¾ bid over the day.

The notes were steady over the front half of the week at 28½ bid.

The Chesapeake, Va.-based sports broadcast group entered into a multiple-year renewal of its distribution rights agreement with the National Hockey League in December.

AMC mixed

AMC’s notes were mixed on Thursday but mostly softer, according to a market source.

The company’s 6 1/8% notes due 2027 (Ca/CCC-) fell ¼ point to 69¾ bid.

AMC’s 5¾% notes due 2025 (Ca/CCC-) recovered 1 point to trade at 78 bid by the close after softening about 1½ points on Wednesday.

Also, AMC’s 10% senior secured second-lien notes due 2026 (Ca/CCC-) fell ½ point to 97 bid after trading 1 point lower the prior day.

The Leawood, Kan.-based movie theater owner’s bonds have been heavily traded in the first week of the year after reports the company is considering refinancing debt.

Transocean stronger

Transocean’s 7½% senior notes due 2031 (Ca/CCC) improved 7/8 point to 64 7/8 bid with $1.65 million of volume registered Thursday, a source said.

The Vernier, Switzerland-based offshore driller’s notes have rallied 5 5/8 points over the first four sessions of the year.

Plains preferreds up

Plains All American Pipeline’s 6 1/8% series B fixed-to-floating rate cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred units (Ba2/BB/BB) traded over 1 point better on the day at higher than 85¾ bid, a source said Thursday.

Volume totaled more than $1.3 million.

The Houston-based natural gas and crude oil transporter’s issue is up 1¾ points since the week of Christmas.

PBF bonds higher

PBF’s 7¼% senior notes due 2025 (Caa1/B/B-) picked up 2 points to head out at 77¼ bid on $5 million of secondary supply on Thursday, a source said.

The Parsippany, N.J.-based petroleum refiner’s notes have rallied over 5 points in heavy secondary action since the end of 2021.

Distressed index positive

Distressed index returns remained positive on Wednesday and year to date.

The S&P U.S. High Yield Corporate Distressed Bond index’s one-day total return was 0.09%, down from 0.6% on Tuesday and 0.38% on Monday.

Month- and year-to-date index returns improved to 1.08% on Wednesday from 0.99% on Tuesday and 0.38% on Monday.

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