DISH bonds, equity sink on quarterly losses; QVC, Qurate Retail notes continue gains

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Nov. 6 – Junk and distressed issues widely softened with secondary trading tempered by an extremely busy primary market in both the high-grade and high-yield markets on Monday.

But one name stood out after reporting weak earnings at the start of the day.

DISH Network Corp.’s paper slid as much as 10½ points in heavy secondary trading.

Yields in the name were anywhere from around 12% to over 31% over the session.

DISH’s most active issues included the 5 7/8% senior notes due 2024 (Caa2/B-), which slid more than 8 points on $41.73 million of trading action. The yield was 24.22%.

DISH’s stock plunged over 37% on Monday.

Market tone otherwise was mostly better over the session. The S&P 500 index edged up 0.18%.

The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF softened 30 cents, or 0.4%, to $74.11.

Measured market volatility was little changed. The CBOE Volatility index declined 0.13% to 14.89.

Bonds from QVC Inc. and parent Qurate Retail Inc. continued to climb on Monday after finishing Friday about 5 points to 7 points better on stronger earnings results.

QVC’s 4¾% senior secured notes due 2027 (B2/B-) traded up 2 points after heading out Friday over 7 points higher.

DISH paper drops

DISH DBS Corp.’s 7¾% senior notes due 2026 (Caa2/B-) gave back 10½ points to a quote of 59¾ bid and a 31.13% yield on $11.84 million of volume by the end of the session, a source said Monday.

The company’s 5 1/8% senior notes due 2029 (Caa2/B-) fell 6 points to 47 bid on $11.99 million of trading.

DISH’s most active issue, the 5 7/8% senior notes due 2024 (Caa2/B-), slid over 8 points to 84¼ bid on $41.73 million of secondary action. The yield was 24.22%.

On Monday, DISH Network announced that revenue for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 dropped to $3.7 billion from $4.1 billion a year ago, while losses totaled $139 million following $412 million of income in the same period last year.

DISH reported a large drop in subscribers as consumers move toward streaming services.

DISH said its net pay-TV subscribers fell around 64,000 in the third quarter, and its retail wireless net subscribers fell by around 225,000 during the period.

EchoStar Corp., the Hughes satellite company that DISH announced in August it would acquire before the year’s end, reported on Monday that its quarterly revenue dropped 17% in large part due to fewer broadband customers.

Third-quarter income fell by $19 million year over year. The company said it successfully launched the Jupiter 3/EchoStar XXIV satellite on July 28 and expects to launch service in December, “which will instantly bring over 500 Gbps of capacity over North and South America.”

In October, the Federal Communications Commission levied its first-ever space debris enforcement action against DISH over the company’s failure to properly deorbit its EchoStar-7 satellite.

The Englewood, Colo.-based satellite cable operator’s stock (Nasdaq: DISH) plunged 37.43% to close Monday at $3.44.

Qurate, QVC higher

QVC’s 4¾% senior secured notes due 2027 (B2/B-) traded up 2 points to 68¼ bid on Monday on $3.3 million of volume, a source said.

On Friday, the bonds picked up nearly 7¼ points to a quote of 66¼ bid on $8.54 million of trading.

QVC’s 4 3/8% senior secured notes due 2028 (B2/B-) were more than 2¾ points better over the session with a 63 bid handle on $6.26 million of trading.

Also Monday, parent Qurate Retail's 8¼% senior notes due 2030 (Caa2/CCC-) were up 1 point at 32 bid on $3.46 million of volume, a source said.

The notes added 3 points on Friday.

The West Chester, Pa.-based home shopping network owner on Friday reported third-quarter revenue declined 10% but also announced $151 million of operating income compared to a $2.61 billion loss a year ago.

Distressed index dips

S&P U.S. High Yield Corporate Distressed Bond index one-day total returns slipped on Friday to 1.16%, down from 1.25% on Thursday but still up from minus 1.26% on Wednesday, minus 0.82% on Tuesday and minus 0.49% at the start of the week.

Month-to-date total returns improved on Friday to 1.13% from minus 0.03% on Thursday and minus 1.26% in the first session of November.

Year-to-date distressed total returns rose to 11.75% as the week closed from 10.47% in the prior session and 11.42% at the week’s start.

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