Allied Waste Industries' debt climbed up last Thursday with traders estimating that a total of $10-20 million traded on the name. Among the trades, dealers said $2.5 million of the term loans "B" and "C" traded at 99 1/2, up from the 98 1/8 level two weeks ago as the market cast favorable eyes on the sector. Traders said $2.5 million of its term loan "A" traded at 97 3/4 in the street. "This market is feeling the impacts of the economy but not as much as manufacturing or other cyclical markets," said Marcy Odlaug, Fitch Ratings analyst.
Last week, Allied's competitor Waste Management, released positive numbers for its fourth quarter profits, but the earnings fell short of expectations, analysts said. In comparison, Allied met its expectations after revising them to reflect lower expected numbers. Traders noted a perceived stronger performance of Allied versus Waste Management boosting the name. Cherie Rice, v.p. of investor relations for Waste Management, rebuffed the comparisons being made between the two companies. "We have focused on producing cash flow and we beat the street's expectations for cash flow with over $1.1 billion," she said.
Traders also noted that buyers see the strong par name as a staple among more volatile names. Buyers are looking for less credit risk in their portfolios. Buyers and sellers could not be determined. Calls to Thomas Ryan, Allied Waste cfo, were referred to investor relations who did not return calls by press time.