Bausch notes gain in active trading; AMC bonds improve; Coinbase notes shed 1 point

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Dec. 12 – Bausch Health Cos. Inc. stood out in secondary trading on Monday with several tranches of the issuer’s distressed paper active on more than $6 million of supply.

Bausch’s 8½% notes due 2027 (Ca/CCC/CC) climbed 2 points by the day’s end.

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.’s notes improved after treading lower over the prior week.

AMC’s 10% senior secured second-lien notes due 2026 (Caa3/CCC-) rose 1¾ points on more than $5 million of volume in one of the most active distressed bonds seen over the session.

Distressed secondary action thinned on Monday with lower-yielding junk names seen more active, according to market sources.

Focus is on monetary policy decisions from central banks, including the Federal Reserve, and November’s inflation data due this week, sources note.

Volatility reared higher as the week kicked off, but financial markets mostly shrugged it off with stock indices all rallying more than 1%. The S&P 500 closed up 1.43%.

The CBOE Volatility index climbed 9.64% by the close to $25.03.

The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF improved 29 cents, or 0.39%, to $75.33.

Crude oil prices also rallied on Monday.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil benchmark futures for January deliveries were up $2.15 at $73.17 a barrel.

Meanwhile, Coinbase Global, Inc.’s 3 3/8% notes due 2028 (Ba2/BB) shed a point over the session in one of the most actively traded issues but were little changed from November.

In other activity, S&P Global Ratings said in a release on Monday that the global weakest links tally of issuers rated B- or lower increased to 263 as of Nov. 25 from 239 as of Oct. 17, as downgrades to B- continue to increase.

The consumer products sector leads with the highest total number of weakest links, but the high technology, financial institutions, and homebuilders and real estate sectors lead with the largest percentage point increases in weakest links in 2022 year to date, S&P said.

Bausch stronger

Bausch’s 8½% notes due 2027 (Ca/CCC/CC) climbed 2 points to head out at 54½ bid on $1.3 million of volume on Monday, a source said.

The company’s 5¼% notes due 2030 (Ca/CCC/CC) added 1¾ points to hit 49¼ bid in more active trading totaling $3 million.

The Laval, Quebec-based health care and pharmaceutical company completed a distressed debt exchange in September.

AMC notes higher

AMC’s 10% senior secured second-lien notes due 2026 (Caa3/CCC-) picked up 1¾ points to a quote of 39 bid Monday afternoon, a source said.

Trading was active on $5.6 million of volume.

The issue has gained more than 3 points since Wednesday when the bonds were quoted at 35 1/8 bid.

Stock in the Leawood, Kan.-based movie theater owner and gold and silver mine investor was up 1 cent at $5.95.

Coinbase declines

Coinbase’s 3 3/8% notes due 2028 (Ba2/BB) dropped 1 point in strong trading totaling $8 million on Monday, a market source said.

The bonds were quoted at 55 bid going out the door.

Coinbase’s notes were little changed so far in December after trading in November at the 55¼ bid area.

The company’s bonds were under pressure in the prior month in the wake of the FTX collapse.

Coinbase, a Wilmington, Del.-based cryptocurrency exchange platform, sold $1 billion of the 3 3/8% notes at par on Sept. 14, 2021.

Distressed returns up

S&P U.S. High Yield Corporate Distressed Bond index one-day returns ended Friday higher at 0.26% versus 0.22% on Thursday, minus 0.38% on Wednesday and minus 0.56% on Tuesday and just under returns of 0.27% at the start of the week.

Month-to-date total returns were 0.7% on Friday, compared to 0.43% on Thursday, 0.22% on Wednesday, 0.6% on Tuesday and 1.16% at the prior week’s start.

Year-to-date total returns totaled minus 24.93% on Friday, minus 25.12% on Thursday, minus 25.28% on Wednesday, minus 25% on Tuesday and minus 24.58% in the Dec. 5 session.

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