AMC secured notes improve; Lumen paper, CDS spreads weaken; QVC, Qurate mostly lower

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., March 3 – Distressed trading saw the bulk of movement Friday in AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.’s paper on more than $23 million of secondary volume.

The company’s notes traded about 1 point to 1 1/8 points better, a source said.

Lumen Technologies, Inc.’s 4½% senior notes due 2029 (B2/B+) slipped nearly ¼ point in active secondary supply that hit $8 million over the day.

QVC Inc.’s paper stayed busy on more than $15 million of volume.

QVC’s 4¾% senior secured notes due 2027 (Ba3B+) were down around ¾ point by the close.

Bonds from parent Qurate Retail Inc. remained mostly weaker on Friday.

The issuer’s credit default swap spreads moved out more than 400 basis points this week.

“March is usually bearish in the first three weeks and bullish the last week as corporates enter their blackout periods,” according to a BNP Paribas Securities Corp. note on Friday. “For the cash/CDS basis, it usually means a cheapening in the first three weeks of the month.”

The day ended with stock indices making strong gains. The S&P 500 index closed up 1.61%.

The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF added 76 cents, or 1.03%, to $74.72.

Measured market volatility was down on Friday. The CBOE Volatility index declined 5.62% to $18.49.

AMC notes higher

AMC Entertainment’s 7½% senior secured first-lien notes due 2029 (Caa1/B-) went out up 1 1/8 points at 61¾ bid on $12 million of secondary trading, a source said Friday.

The bonds have improved about 1½ points on the week.

The 10% senior secured second-lien notes due 2026 (Caa3/CCC-) were about 1 point better at the 53 bid area on $11.77 million of trading on Friday, down about ¾ point from a week ago.

AMC’s bonds have been mixed in strong trading over the week after the company reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 losses on Tuesday.

The Leawood, Kan.-based movie theater owner completed a distressed debt-for-equity swap in February.

Lumen declines

Lumen Technologies’ 4½% notes due 2029 (B2/B+) fell nearly ¼ point to head out Friday at 52 bid on $8 million of secondary volume, a source said.

The Denver-based telecommunications company’s CDS spreads softened 46 bps over the past week ended Wednesday to 1,516 bps after widening nearly 100 bps in the prior week, according to a Moody’s Investors Service note.

QVC, Qurate slip

QVC’s bonds were mostly softer on Friday as one of the most active distressed names over the session, a source said.

The 4¾% senior secured notes due 2027 (Ba3/B+) shed around ¾ point to trade at a print of 55.525 on $8 million of volume on Friday.

The home shopping network’s 4 3/8% senior secured notes due 2028 (Ba3/B+) went out down ¾ point at 51¼ bid on more than $5 million of trading.

Parent Qurate Retail’s 8¼% notes due 2030 (B3/CCC) were quoted at 36 bid on Friday on $4 million of paper changing hands, down from 37 bid on Thursday.

The tranche of 8½% senior debentures due 2029 (B3/CCC) was up ½ point at 37 bid on $3.7 million of volume during the session.

CDS spreads for the West Chester, Pa.-based media company, formerly known as Liberty Interactive Corp., moved out 413 bps to 3,025 bps for the past week ended Wednesday, Moody’s said.

Qurate Retail on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter and fiscal 2022 losses.

Distressed returns soft

S&P U.S. High Yield Corporate Distressed Bond index one-day returns were minus 0.28% on Thursday, compared to minus 0.3% on Wednesday, 0.32% on Tuesday and 0.54% on Monday.

Month-to-date returns declined to minus 0.58% in the second session of the month from minus 0.3% on Wednesday.

Quarterly and year-to-date total returns softened to 8.47% on Thursday from 8.77% on Wednesday, 9.11% on Tuesday and 8.76% at the week’s start.

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