Credit Focus

Pizza Express continues to struggle with its £1.1bn debt burden and a slowdown in its restaurants business. However, it has seen growth in the sales of its supermarket product range. Bond coupon payments are due on 1st February. Pizza Express is still seen likely to restructure by S&P, who recently raised their credit rating to CCC-.

Creditors are to vote on restructuring plans of the Italian multinational construction company, Astaldi, on 6th February. However, bondholders threaten to derail plans for this debt overhaul. Investors holding €65m are pushing back against plans as they believe it is based on unrealistic estimates of what creditors can recover post-restructuring.

Tesla Inc.’s 5.5% bonds due 2025 rallied on 8th January and have priced above par for the first time since the securities were sold more than two years ago. This trend ties in with the fact the electric carmaker has recently become the most valuable US automaker in history. Tesla shares, which are up more than 160% since hitting a 52-week low last June, now have a market value of $86.5 billion beating the previous record held by Ford in 1999 ($76.1bn).

The flash storage and security solutions manufacturer Swissbit are likely to go to DACH auction early next year. GCA Altium is running the sale process. They will be marketed off at an EBITDA of €20m upward. Swissbit have grown at single to double digit rates annually in the 2009-2018 period.

£285m worth of Aston Martin bonds due in 2022 dropped 1.6p on the pound to 94.4p on 7th January, the biggest move in the last 3 months. This comes after an earnings slump, with FY adjusted earnings in the region of £130-140m in 2019 compared to £247m in 2018. Aston Martin have said it remains in talks with potential investors, initially announced in December, to try to reduce pressure from high-interest debt.