Municipals close unchanged after early weakness; OhioHealth, Northeast Ohio Sewer bonds price

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, March 26 - Municipal yields were mostly unchanged again on Tuesday after experiencing spotty weakness early in the session, market sources said.

The focus of the day was on primary action, with the bulk of the week's offerings coming to market Tuesday given the holiday-shortened week.

"Trading is still light, but there's really not much movement," one trader said in the afternoon.

The week will provide about $4 billion of new issues, and 30-day visible supply, at just $6 billion, is the lowest it's been in a month, said Alan Schankel, managing director with Janney Montgomery Scott LLC.

Meanwhile, despite concerns over sequester-generated subsidy cuts to issuers of Build America Bonds, BABs continue to rally, with the spread between yields of the Wells Fargo BABs index and Treasuries at 119 basis points, the tightest since the program started in 2009, said Schankel.

Suffolk County downgraded

In ratings action, Fitch Ratings downgraded Suffolk County, N.Y., general obligation debt to A from A+ just ahead of the county's $150 million sale of short-term notes.

The county is expected to come to market with the short-term debt next month.

"The [short-term] note rating is unchanged at F1, the second-highest of four Fitch note rating grades," Schankel said.

"Fitch expressed concerns about the county's ability to stabilize financial operations, with an estimated $90 million FY12 deficit, higher than expected partly due to issues related to Hurricane Sandy. The rating downgrade impacts about $1.4 billion of G.O. debt."

Northeast Ohio bonds price

Heading up the day's active primary calendar, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District sold $248,965,000 of series 2013 wastewater improvement revenue bonds, said a pricing sheet.

The bonds (Aa1) were sold through Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. LLC.

The bonds are due 2020 to 2033 with term bonds due in 2038 and 2043. The serial coupons range from 2% to 5%. The 2038 bonds have a 5% coupon and priced at 113.55, and the 2043 bonds have a 5% coupon and priced at 112.64.

Proceeds will be used to finance various system improvements.

OhioHealth brings debt

Also out of Ohio, Franklin County hit the market with $226.33 million of series 2013 hospital facilities revenue refunding bonds for OhioHealth Corp., said a pricing sheet.

The bonds (Aa2/AA+/AA) were sold through Barclays.

The bonds are due 2014 to 2033 with a term bond due in 2043. The serial coupons range from 3% to 5%. The 2043 bonds have a 4% coupon and priced at 97.436.

Proceeds will be used to construct, equip, acquire and renovate hospital facilities.

© 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.