NII Holdings bonds mixed; coal sector rebounds, still down over week; Gymboree gains ‘a shade’

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, Sept. 19 – The distressed debt market saw “some activity in all the same names,” a trader said Friday.

Overall, the market had a firmer tone, following Scotland’s Thursday vote to stay part of the United Kingdom.

NII Holdings Inc. paper was mixed on the day, according to one trader. He saw the 7 5/8% notes due 2021 slipping almost half a point to 16½, while the 10% notes due 2016 rose almost 2 points to 26½.

The company’s debt has been steadily climbing higher since filing for bankruptcy protections on Monday. The filing came amid weak earnings and a missed coupon payment on Aug. 15.

Meanwhile, “some of the coal names pushed back up,” a trader said, though he noted that most came down from intraday highs.

He saw Walter Energy Inc.’s 11% notes due 2020 hitting a high of 57 before settling back in to a 54 to 55 range.

Another trader pegged the 8½% notes due 2021 up 2½ points at 32 and the 11% notes due 2020 a deuce higher at 54½.

In Arch Coal Inc. paper, a trader said the 7¼% notes due 2021 were off nearly 1½ points at 58, but the 7¼% notes due 2020 were up about that same amount at 61½.

A second trader placed the 7% notes due 2019 around 63½, which was still up on the day, but down from 68 last week.

Alpha Natural Resources Inc.’s 7½% notes due 2020 were meantime seen with a 92 handle. Like the other names in the coal sector, it was up on the day, but still off 3 points from the end of the previous week.

Alpha’s 9 3/8% notes due 2018 were deemed “down considerably” by one trader, who called the issue off 4 points at 81 3/8.

The coal arena has been under pressure for some time, as demand for the product weakens and prices decline. On Thursday, coal names got hit again when Goldman Sachs & Co. released a report speculating that prices for metallurgical coal had not yet found a floor.

In the retail world, Gymboree Corp.’s 9 1/8% notes due 2018 “bounced a shade,” a trader said, seeing the issue moving up almost half a point to 32 5/8.

© 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.