High Yield Report articles from April 2004

High Yield Report archives from April 2004

Hot off the press.
April 5, 2004... The announcement three weeks ago that ABN Amro had hired James Courtenay to head up its European leveraged finance and high yield group sparked renewed speculation as to whether the bank was heading into the European high yield market. In an...

Europe.
April 5, 2004... As NTL Inc. and Telewest Communications Plc approach the end of their respective financial restructurings, analysts and investors are once again buzzing about the possibility of a merger of Europe's beleaguered cable giants. In the past...

League Tables.
April 5, 2004... Credit Suisse First Boston may have clung on to its top spot in the first quarter league tables for high yield's top underwriters, but this time around the Wall Street powerhouse came under increasing pressure from rival Citigroup in the battle...

The Word Is.
April 5, 2004... It was only to be expected that a bumper quarter in terms of new issuance could cause some upset in the high yield league table rankings. Indeed, Citibank has taken full advantage of the seemingly never ending supply of high yield companies...

US Company News.
April 5, 2004... Sealy Mattress Co., the biggest maker of bedding products, was in the market last week with a $390 million of 10-year senior subordinated notes to help finance its $1.5 billion purchase by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The North...

Credit.
April 5, 2004... Boyd Gaming Corp. will sell $300 million of notes in a private placement deal arranged to pay off existing debt and help fund a $190 million acquisition of Harrah's casino in Louisiana. The Las Vegas-based casino operator, which owns...

Market Buzz.
April 5, 2004... It was all change at Lehman Brothers last week. Sources reported that ING's Angus Rosborough who worked in the firm's high yield research department has left his position to join Lehman Brothers. Meanwhile, Chris Cooke has transferred...

AMG Data's Weekly HY Fund Flows.(high yield bond mutual funds )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... US high yield bond mutual funds experienced $173 million in outflows in the week ending March 31, according to AMG Data Services. The latest outflow pushed total outflows this year to $1.53 billion, versus inflows of roughly $8.6 billion in the...

Gainers/Losers: Delta Gains and aaiPharma Loses.
April 5, 2004... After two losing weeks, Delta Airlines' high yield debt edged higher as news about lower crude oil prices and a slowdown in fare wars helped give the troubled company a much needed lift. Earlier this month, Delta said it expected to lose...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
April 5, 2004... A story on Nortel Networks (HYR, 4/22) stated the company's debt was downgraded after it announced an earnings restatement. The story should have clarified that those downgrades took place after the original earnings announcement in 2002. Both...

Europe.(Ascom Autelca Ltd)
April 12, 2004... Any high yield investor who said that Swiss company Ascom would prove to be one of the major success stories of 2003 was spot-on. Ascom, a manufacturer of telecommunications and service automation equipment, managed to stave off bankruptcy...

LBOs.(united states economy grows with leveraged buyouts)
April 12, 2004... Leveraged buyouts are coming on strong this year as a rebounding US economy triggers an increasing amount of corporate takeovers. What's more, while refinancings - which have made up the greatest portion of the use of new issuance proceeds -...

Market View.(companies effected by the drop in the defualt rates of high yield market)
April 12, 2004... The good news is that the high yield default rate tumbled yet again in March to its lowest level in five years. But, the bad news is this isn't enough to stave off continued speculation that a number of high-profile credits could shock Wall...

The Word Is.(new issues in the European and US markets )(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... For once it seems that supply is not such an issue in the European high yield market. On average, one deal has priced each week since the start of the year, which although pretty dismal when compared to the US market, is actually one of the...

Credit.(Kenneth Emery report on corporate bonds and syndicate banks loans)
April 12, 2004... Credit losses on high yield bonds are about three times higher than credit losses for speculative grade loans, according to a recent report released by Moody's Investors Service. The report, written by Moody's VP and senior analyst Kenneth...

US Company News.(Allied Waste Industries plans to refinances)
April 12, 2004... Allied Waste Industries, the second-largest US trash hauler, which has become something of a behemoth in the high yield market, is offering $650 million in notes as part of a plan to repurchase $1 billon in debt due 2009. The deal comes...

Profile.(Joe Bel Bruno high yield senior reporter's interview)(Interview)
April 12, 2004... Margo Cook, Bank of New York's head of institutional fixed income, believes the biggest challenge ahead for portfolio managers will be gauging the right time to retool investments in an economic climate where competitors are all guessing when...

Market Buzz.(Schroders Investment Ltd biulds a high yield team in new york)
April 12, 2004... Schroders Looking To Build US High Yield Team Schroders, the UK based asset management firm, is looking to build a high yield team based in New York. The company recently named Chris De Young as a high yield credit analyst based in the Big...

Opinion.(effects of investment banks and business houses on global money market)
April 12, 2004... The world of Global Finance used to be a much simpler place. It was not so long ago - say, as late as the 1970s - when the financial world was divided into two principal species - those with loads of money and those who needed it. Those with...

Gainers & Losers -Hollywood/MDP.(Hollywood Entertainment Corp, Telewest Broadband)
April 12, 2004... Entertainment-related companies took the spotlight last week, with companies such as UK cable operator Telewest and US video chain Hollywood Entertainment making their mark on the Gainers and Losers chart. Last week saw new details emerge...

Sector Analysis.(Sirius Satellite Radio Inc, XM Satellite Radio Inc)
April 19, 2004... Financial reorganizations at both XM Satellite Radio and rival Sirius Satellite Radio beamed an encouraging signal to both bondholders and equity investors with both companies claiming to be inching closer to profitability. The two...

League Table.(Merrill Lynch & Co)
April 19, 2004... Merrill Lynch & Co. wants to resuscitate its languishing high yield business by capturing high-profile deals and luring new talent to a department many contend the bank has neglected over the past five years. Greg Margolies, the new head...

US Company News.
April 19, 2004... MetLife Inc. is rumored to be considering implementing a primarily index-based investing strategy for its roughly $60 billion bond portfolio that would ultimately mean the insurer would shed many of its in-house bond analysts, sources said. ...

The Word Is.
April 19, 2004... The unexpectedly strong rise in US consumer prices last month not only unsettled the corporate debt markets, but it also put discussions about whether the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates this summer back on the agenda. Most consider...

Deal Focus.(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... Midwest Generation, a unit of Edison International, sold $1 billion of senior secured notes as part of a private placement deal that carries a 30-year maturity. The deal is part of a wider refinancing package that included loans of about...

Feature.(mezzanine financing, market)
April 19, 2004... The European mezzanine and high yield markets have historically been separated by factors such as liquidity, yield, structure, deal size and risk. Over the past 18 months, however, the distinction between these two markets has gradually been...

Market Buzz.
April 19, 2004... Michael Khouri, former high yield and investment grade sales person at Banc of America, has resigned and will be joining his former BofA boss David Lofts to concentrate on high yield sales at Jefferies, sources say. Lofts left BofA several...

AMG Data's Weekly HY Fund Flows.(high yield)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... AMG Data reported outflows from high yield funds of $17.1 million for the week ending April 14. This brings the year to date cumulative outflow to $1.528 billion. The prior week, high yield bond funds reported an inflow of $84.4...

Gainers & Losers: Levi/ Airlines.
April 19, 2004... Positive quarterly earnings helped propel a number of big names in the high yield market last week. Levi saw its 12.25% bonds due in 2012 move up just under five points to 80.12 after narrowing losses against the year-ago period. The privately...

Who's Who in High Yield/Leveraged Finance.(Directory)
April 19, 2004... BANC OF AMERICA SECURITIES LLC A Bank of America Company Charlotte: 214 North Tryon Street Charlotte, NC 28255 Phone: 704-386-5000 New York: 9 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-583-8000 London: 5 Canada Square London, UK...

Restructuring.(MCI Inc)
April 26, 2004... MCI has emerged from bankruptcy shedding both its former name, WorldCom, and about $35 billion of debt. The question now on everyone's lips is how the major rating agencies will weigh in on the telecommunications giant that still faces a number...

Europe.(Financial Services Authority proposal to Uk banks for segregation of research analysts)
April 26, 2004... By May 1, UK banks must physically segregate research analysts from the sales and trading desk, either by seating them on a different floor, or behind a glass wall. But meeting the rest of the requirements of the draft proposals recently...

Strategy.(floating rate notes)
April 26, 2004... High yield issuers in the US have been pricing an increasing number of floating rate note tranches with apparent ease this year. In fact, roughly 17 separate FRN tranches have priced since January, including Qwest Communications' whopping $750...

The Word Is.(Financial Services Authority)(Brief Article)
April 26, 2004... It was only a matter of time before the Financial Services Authority, the UK's independent, non governmental financial services industry regulator, followed the lead of the Securities and Exchange Commission in addressing the conflicts of...

Deal Focus.(Charter Communications Inc)
April 26, 2004... Charter Communications, the struggling cable operator that has become a fixture in high yield issuance over the past few years, received a strong reception for its $1.5 billion note offering last week. The deal is part of a broader $8 billion...

Market View.(sovereign debt market and high yield markets trading pattern)
April 26, 2004... Since November 2002, high yield and emerging market sovereign debt have followed a very similar trading pattern, essentially moving in lockstep. Seen as the best asset classes to get yield, a range of investors had increasingly grouped the two...

Profile.(Bank of America Capital Management Inc, Fleet Capital Corp , Mergers)
April 26, 2004... The asset-based lending (ABL) powerhouse formerly known as Fleet Capital Corp. may have gotten a new name - Bank of America Business Capital (BofA BC) - but the lending division is still, for the most part, intact following the official merger...

Market Buzz.(recruiting in the security industry)
April 26, 2004... Pierluigi Volini has left his position as high yield research analyst at Goldman Sachs, London, to join the research team at Lehman Brothers. Volini joins Angus Rosborough, former research analyst at ING, who transferred to Lehman several weeks...

US Company News.(Revlon Inc buy backs)
April 26, 2004... Revlon Inc. initiated a cash offer last week to buy back $555 million of notes as part of a wider plan to cut interest costs and push back maturities. If successful, the move, which is the latest in Revlon's efforts to restore the company's...

AMG Data.(Brief Article)
April 26, 2004... The amount of money moving out of high yield funds increased by $425.8 million for the week ending April 21, according to AMG Data. This marks the fifth out of six weeks that AMG reported outflows from high yield funds. The latest numbers...

Gainers & Losers: Oakwood/Pegasus.(Oakwood Homes , Pegasus Satellite Television )
April 26, 2004... AaiPharma was the top gainer last week. Its 11% senior subordinated notes surged as the drug maker moved closer to obtaining bondholder support for amendments needed as part of restating earnings for 2003. The company, which announced that...