Upsized Charter drives by, eases; new Numericable again tops actives; funds gain $1.18 billion

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, April 7 – The high-yield market’s new-deal parade continued to roll on, although Thursday was considerably calmer on the primaryside than Wednesday’s heavy-volume session had been.

Syndicate sources said just one deal came to market – an upsized $1.2 billion issue of 10-yuear notes from subsidiaries of cable operator Charter Communications, Inc.

Traders said the new bonds traded actively though ending slightly below their issue price.

But for a second consecutive session, French cabler Numericable SFR SA’s behemoth of a bond deal was easily the busiest credit in Junkbondland, trading slightly below the levels at which it had finished on Wednesday, when that $5.19 billion offering of secured 10-year notes had been the key component of the more than $8 billion primary session, the year’s biggest one-day total so far.

Away from the new issues, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.’s bonds were both active and higher for a third straight session, as the embattled Canadian drug manufacturer announced that its lenders had approved a credit facility amendment and extended deadlines for making its regulatory filings.

Statistical market performance measures turned lower across the board on Thursday, after having been higher all around on Wednesday. It was indicators’ second downside session in the last three trading days.

But another numerical measure – flows of funds into or out of high-yield mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, considered a reliable barometer of overall junk market liquidity trends – moved back to the upside this week after having seen a net outflow last week, with $1.181 billion more coming into those weekly-reporting-only domestic funds than leaving them.

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