Intelsat continues heavy trade; Chesapeake firms as maturity eyed; SM Energy down on results

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, Feb. 24 – Intelsat SA was again the dominant name in the distressed debt market on Wednesday, though fresh news out of the oil and gas space was spurring activity there as well.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. released its latest quarterly results on Wednesday, showing a wider loss. The company also cut its capital expenditure budget again, though it maintained that an upcoming maturity would be fully funded.

The bonds traded up on the news, though one trader expressed surprise that the name did not push out Intelsat as most active.

Meanwhile, SM Energy Co.’s debt traded down in response to its fourth-quarter results. The numbers came out late Tuesday, with the company reporting a loss versus a year-ago profit.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. came out with its earnings after the bell, with a conference call slated for Thursday. Ahead of the release, bonds were drifting lower.

The moves in the oil and gas space came as crude oil prices traded all over the place during the midweek session. Domestic crude was initially down on the day, but reversed course as new data from the Energy Information Administration indicated U.S. demand for gasoline was higher than it was a year ago and supplies were down, given that many refineries had slashed production.

That news offset the fact that crude stockpiles rose by 3.5 million barrels last week to hit an all-time high of 507 million barrels.

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