Prospect News, S&P each report four new defaults for March 31-April 6

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, April 8 – Prospect News reported four new defaults for the period of March 31 through April 6.

Specifically, Prospect News reported Island Drilling Co. ASA’s missed interest payment on its 9½% second-lien callable bond issue 2013/2018, Midstates Petroleum Co., Inc.’s missed interest payment on its 10¾% senior notes due 2020, SquareTwo Financial Corp.’s missed interest payment on its senior secured second-lien notes and Ultra Petroleum Corp.’s missed interest payment on its 6 1/8% senior notes due 2024.

Prospect News also reported Winsway Enterprises Holdings Ltd.’s Chapter 15 bankruptcy filing, Chaparral Energy, Inc.’s missed interest payment on its 9 7/8% senior notes due 2020, Sanjel Corp.’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and Chapter 15 bankruptcy filings, Puerto Rico Public Finance Corp.’s missed interest payment on its series 2012 A commonwealth appropriation bonds, Abengoa, SA’s missed interest payment on its €500 million of 8½% notes due 2016, a Cecon ASA missed principal payment, three Goodrich Petroleum Corp. missed interest payments and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed by PostRock Energy Corp. However, all of those companies had previously defaulted.

So far this year, Prospect News has reported 79 defaults, including 35 missed interest payments, 28 Chapter 11 filings, three missed principal and interest payments, two each of insolvencies, CCAA filings, missed principal payments, Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings and Chapter 15 bankruptcy filings and one each of administrations, judicial management requests and missed interest payments paid within the grace period.

Meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s reported four new defaults for the week, raising its 2016 global corporate default tally to 40 issuers, the highest year-to-date level since 2009.

Specifically, S&P lowered its corporate credit rating on SquareTwo Financial to D from CCC after the issuer announced it would not make the April 1 interest payment on its second-lien secured notes and lowered its corporate credit rating on Midstates Petroleum to D from CCC- to reflect its decision to skip the interest payment on its 10¾% senior notes due 2020.

In addition, S&P lowered its corporate credit rating on Ultra Petroleum to D from CC following the deferral of the interest payment on its 6 1/8% senior unsecured notes due 2024.

Finally, the ratings agency lowered its corporate credit rating on Rex Energy Corp. to SD from CC after the company announced an offer to exchange its 8 7/8% and 6¼% senior unsecured notes for 8% senior unsecured notes.

S&P said that of the 40 defaulting issuers so far in 2016, 19 defaulted because of missed principal and/or interest payments, eight because of distressed exchanges, six after bankruptcy filings, three because of debt exchanges, two because of de facto restructurings and one each because of a deferred exchange and a regulatory intervention.

Of the 40 defaulting issuers, 34 are based in the United States, five in emerging markets and one in the other developed nations, which include Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.

© 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.