PBF, Transocean, Nine Energy slip, mostly higher on week; selling fizzles; Endo down

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., March 10 – Distressed energy bonds declined on Thursday as oil continued to come off gains made since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The energy space “has given some back,” a source said. “Oil’s been a little bit of a roller-coaster – it was actually up earlier today and now it’s down.”

PBF Energy Inc.’s notes were about ¼ point to ¾ point softer on the day but were trading about 2 points to 3¾ points higher so far this week.

Offshore driller Transocean Inc.’s bonds softened about ¾ point to 2½ points during the session but also were going out about 1¾ points to 2¾ points higher this week.

Nine Energy Service, Inc.’s 8¾% notes due 2023 (Caa3/D) traded down about 1½ points on Thursday but remained more than 10 points stronger on the week.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil benchmark futures for April deliveries, which declined $15 on Wednesday, fell another $2.68 on Thursday to settle at $106.02 a barrel.

Market volatility waned but tone remained soft with stocks down.

The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF ended off 69 cents at $81.52.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s CBOE Volatility index fell over 6% to 30.23.

“The whole market basically felt like it was coming in throughout the day,” a trader said. “Stocks ended up coming back off of a pretty severe sell-off earlier. Things generally felt weaker across the board. There was some decent selling earlier in the day, but then it just fizzled out.”

Bonds in the distressed pharmaceuticals space stayed soft following a $6 billion opioid-related settlement approved with Purdue Pharma owners on Wednesday.

Endo International plc’s bonds dropped 1½ points to 2 points in heavy secondary supply.

Endo’s 6% senior notes due 2028 (Caa3/CCC-) were trading about 5¼ points lower this week.

PBF strong on week

PBF Energy’s 6% senior notes due 2028 (Caa1/B/B-) softened about ¼ point to 80¾ bid on Thursday but were trading about 3¾ points higher on the week, a source said.

The Parsippany, N.J.-based petroleum refiner’s 7¼% senior notes due 2025 (Caa1/B/B-) fell about ¾ point to 90 bid during the session.

The issue has improved 2 points since the prior week.

Transocean lower

Offshore driller Transocean’s 7¼% senior notes due 2025 (Ca/CCC) gave back ¾ point on Thursday to head out at 84 bid, a source said.

The notes were trading about 2¾ points higher this week.

The Vernier, Switzerland-based company’s 6.8% senior notes due 2038 (C/CCC) fell 2½ points to 62 bid by the close on more than $8.5 million of secondary supply.

The issue has traded 1¾ points higher so far in the week.

Nine Energy softens

Nine Energy's 8¾% notes due 2023 (Caa3/D) slipped about 1½ points to the 59½ bid area on Thursday, a market source said.

The issue remains up from trading at 47 bid in the previous week.

Nine Energy reported its fourth-quarter and 2021 earnings results on Monday, noting higher revenue and a lower net loss for the fourth quarter.

The Houston-based oilfield services company also reported that it has submitted a plan to the New York Stock Exchange’s listings committee to regain compliance after receiving a non-compliance notice in January.

Endo declines

Endo Finance LLC’s 6% senior notes due 2028 (Caa3/CCC-) dropped 2 points to 58 bid over Thursday’s session on more than $13 million of paper traded, a source said.

The notes are down about 5¼ points this week.

Endo’s 9½% senior secured notes due 2027 (Caa2/CCC+) also declined 1½ points to 91½ bid in heavy secondary volume of over $47 million.

The Dublin-based pharmaceuticals maker’s secured notes have softened from trading in the prior week at the 95 bid range.

Distressed index up

The S&P U.S. High Yield Corporate Distressed Bond index one-day total return improved Wednesday to 0.05% from minus 0.59% on Tuesday and minus 0.2% on Monday.

Month-to-date total returns were better at minus 1.76%, compared to minus 1.81% on Tuesday and minus 1.23% at the week’s start.

Year-to-date index returns were modestly better on Wednesday at minus 5.05% versus minus 5.1% on Tuesday and minus 4.54% on Monday.

© 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.