Primary quiet to close out $7.26 billion week; Hecla up, Rite Aid gains again

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, June 30 – The high-yield primary market fell silent on Friday, closing out its busiest week in a month. It was also the final session of June, the calendar second quarter and the first half.

No new dollar-denominated and fully junk-rated deals were heard to have priced during the session, which saw only light activity flows and many market participants leaving early ahead of next week’s Independence Day holiday in the United States.

Only one prospective new deal was on the forward calendar as the session began, for Hecla Mining Co. – but by the end of the session, that was gone too, as the silver miner announced that it would not go through with the deal under the current market conditions.

Friday’s primary shutout left the week’s total of new dollar-denominated junk bonds from domestic or industrialized-country borrowers right where it had ended on Thursday, at $7.26 billion, up from last week’s $3.27 billion, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

Away from the new deals, Rite Aid Corp. paper showed continued strength, a day after the drugstore chain announced a major asset sale, with the proceeds mostly slated for debt paydown.

Statistical market performance measures were mixed for a fourth consecutive session on Friday, after having turned mixed on Tuesday and then staying that way since then.

© 2015 Prospect News.
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