href='mailto:Headlines@abiworld.org?subject=Subscribe me to the ABI
Headlines Direct'>
src='http://www.abiworld.org/AM/Images/headlines/headline.gif' />
March 1, 2007
id='1'>Bankruptcy Bad for Small Firms' Creditors
A recent study found that
small companies that reorganize themselves under chapter 11 bankruptcy
usually end up giving everything to the tax collector, leaving unsecured
creditors empty-handed, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. In chapter 11
cases involving companies with assets of less than $200,000, 'little or
nothing' is left after the Internal Revenue Service has done its work,
according to the study by Douglas Baird, a bankruptcy law professor at
the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>University
size='3'>of
size='3'>Chicago.
Non-priority general creditors get less than 10 percent of claims, it
found. When a company has assets worth more
than $5 million, secured creditors, those whose claims are backed by
collateral, receive 94 percent of what they are owed, and unsecured
creditors typically recover half.
href='http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5326216'>Read
more.
Mortgages
id='2'>Mortgage Defaults Start to Spread beyond Subprime
Market
Default rates are
increasing among mortgages made to people who fall in the gray area
between prime and subprime borrowing, the Wall
Street Journal reported today. A record $400
billion of these midlevel loans, known in the industry as 'Alt-A'
mortgages, were originated last year, up from $85 billion in 2003,
according to Inside
Mortgage Finance. Alt-A loans, which include
many nontraditional or “exotic” mortgages, accounted for
roughly 16 percent of mortgage originations last year and subprime loans
an additional 24 percent. Borrowers who take out Alt-A mortgages are
considered less risky than subprime borrowers because of their higher
credit scores. However, data from UBS AG show that the default rate for
Alt-A mortgages has doubled in the past 14 months. 'The credit
deterioration has been almost parallel to what's been happening in the
subprime market,' says UBS mortgage analyst David Liu.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117271866822722900.html?mod=home_whats_news_us'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
Market Calms, Concerns Remain over Subprime Loan
Industry
Despite encouraging
comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and a bounce-back
in the Chinese markets, Wall Street is still concerned about what effect
the declining subprime loan industry will have on the economy,
the New York
Times reported today. Wall Street executives
and analysts acknowledged that the subprime segment of the mortgage
business has faltered because of the performance of loans issued in
2006, but many contend that the problems are well contained and do not
yet pose a significant threat to investment banks or the broader global
financial system. Insurance premiums on the potential default of Wall
Street bonds have risen sharply, indicating possible concern among bond
traders about potential exposure. The cost of insurance against
potential bond default on Bear Stearns’s debt, for example,
increased 40 percent recently, from about 22 basis points in mid-January
to more than 31 on Tuesday, according to Lehman Brothers data.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/business/01stox.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
Ford
Says Restructuring to Cost $11.18 Billion
Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday
that its restructuring plan would likely cost $11.18 billion, with more
than half of the expenses devoted to programs for laid-off workers, the
Associated Press reported today. In a filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, the No. 2 U.S. automaker estimated spending $5.96
billion on a jobs bank and other 'personnel-reduction programs,' $2.74
billion to scale back its pensions, $2.2 billion for fixed asset
impairment charges and $281 million to idle plants. The company also
disclosed that it has pledged all its buildings, trademarks,
intellectual property, shares in the main company, and shares in Volvo,
Jaguar, Aston Martin, Ford Motor Credit Co. and other operations as
collateral for a $23.4 billion line of credit to fund its restructuring
plan and cover losses expected until 2009.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Ford-Restructuring.html?pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
Airlines
id='5'>Northwest Proposes Changes to DIP
Financing
Northwest Airlines has
asked the bankruptcy court for permission to make amendments to its $1.2
billion loan agreement, saying that the changes would reduce the cost of
borrowing funds in exchange for accelerated payment of some deferred
fees, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. The airline’s
motion asks for other changes that would reflect developments since the
DIP agreement was approved, including the settlement of disputes with
the airline’s pre-petition lenders and a settlement with the
Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation. The post-petition financing
agreement was entered into in August 2006. When it was approved, the
airline argued that the refinancing would save the company about $34
million a year in interest payments and another $900 million in debt
repayment through 2010. The funding came mainly from Citigroup Inc. and
included at least $250 million in net liquidity.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=19482'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
In related news,
Bankruptcy Judge Allan
Gropper approved Northwest Airlines Corp.'s
proposal to purchase Mesaba Aviation Inc., moving the regional carrier
one step closer to exiting bankruptcy protection,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported yesterday. Under the all-stock sale, Mesaba creditors
will receive a $145 million unsecured claim in Northwest's ongoing
bankruptcy proceeding in exchange for Northwest receiving 100 percent of
Mesaba's new common stock, according to the company. The sale has been a
crucial part of Mesaba’s reorganization plan, with the carrier
deciding to accept an offer in January from Goldman Sachs Credit
Partners LP to purchase its claim for $125 million.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/secure/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=19447'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
w:st='on'>
size='3'>US
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Airways Secures
$1.6 Billion Debt Refinance Deal
w:st='on'>
size='3'>US
size='3'>Airways Group Inc. said on Wednesday that it has reached a $1.6
billion debt financing deal with units of Citigroup and Morgan Stanley
that will allow the carrier to refinance $1.25 billion of its senior
secured debt and $325 million in unsecured debt,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported yesterday. The deal will permit US Airways to
refinance $1.25 billion of its existing senior secured credit facility,
refinance $325 million of unsecured debt, and raise incremental
liquidity, US Airways said. The airline said that it expects to complete
the transaction by the end of the first quarter.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=19471'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
w:st='on'>
id='7'>New Hampshire
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'> Ski Resort Expected to File for
Bankruptcy
Owners of
size='3'>Ragged
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Mountain
resort were expected to file for bankruptcy as soon as today after a
judge denied an emergency motion to prevent a foreclosure auction, the
Associated Press reported today. Court records say the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Danbury
defaulted on a $4.75 million loan. Its lender says it is ready to
foreclose. Owners Al and Walter Endriunas filed a petition for a
temporary injunction Tuesday asking the judge to stop the foreclosure so
they could sell the resort themselves, according to court documents.
A
size='3'>Utah
offered to purchase the resort for $10 million, but attorneys for the
mortgage lender argued the offer is not 'iron clad' and may not yield
enough money to pay off the resort's debts.
href='http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/03/01/ragged_mountain_expected_to_file_for_bankruptcy_and_avoid_auction/'>Read
more.
id='8'>TROUBLED COMPANIES IN THE NEWS
1000’s of companies lose
money or experience some form of difficulty each
quarter.
The business news
articles below are taken from the
size='3'>Daily Summary of Troubled & Fast Growing U.S. Companies and
Other Business News published by Bastien
Financial Publications.
To begin receiving the COMPLETE
Daily e-Summary, that emails you information on over 70 such companies
each morning, email
face='Times New Roman' color='#0000ff'
size='3'>steve@creditnews.comyour
name, company name, address, phone and fax.
size='3'>We’ll set you up within 24 hours.
Receive an ABI
member’s discount of 50% off the $500 annual subscription
fee. Indicate “ABI CODE 27” in
your email.
size='3'>Airbus SAS, the European
aircraft-manufacturing consortium, is starting to leak out details about
its planned restructuring. The board of its parent company,
European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., has approved a
reorganization aimed at reducing annual costs by about $6.6 billion over
the next three years. It's expected that 3,500 jobs will be cut
in
size='3'>Germany
in
size='3'>France
1,000 in
Britain
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Spain
amounting to a total of about 20% of its workforce. Due to European
regulations, which make layoffs difficult and expensive, Airbus hopes to
achieve the cutbacks through attrition, early retirement and selloffs of
factories to outside investors.
size='3'>Autodesk Inc., a
w:st='on'>
Rafael
software, completed a review of its stock-option grants and will restate
results for the fiscal periods 2002 through 2006. The company
expects to take charges of $45 million related to the restatements.
Autodesk added that its fourth quarter revenue was up 19%--to $497
million, although it didn't provide a full quarterly report because of
the review and restatements.
size='3'>DaimlerChrysler AG's
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Chrysler Group
size='3'>said that it will offer all of its hourly workers in the
size='3'>U.S.
nearly 50,000, as much as $100,000 each to encourage voluntary
departures from the company as part of its restructuring efforts.
The Michigan-based carmaker earlier said that it hopes to dump 13,000
positions as part of a downsizing to accommodate a decline in demand for
its vehicles. Meanwhile, the auto industry is rife with
speculation that one of Chrysler's big suppliers,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Magna International Inc.
of
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Aurora
size='3'>,
size='3'>Ontario
a bid to acquire Chrysler Group from the German parent company.
Chrysler, which last year lost $1.5 billion, expects further losses in
2007. Separately,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Magna
size='3'>,
size='3'>Canada
biggest maker of automotive parts, reported its fourth quarter net
income sank 65%--to $29 million. Revenue rose 9%--to $6.4 billion. For
the year, its net income fell 17%--to $528 million, on a 6% increase in
revenue--to $24.2 billion. Both the quarterly and fiscal results
included $54 million in impairment charges.
size='3'>Decorator Industries Inc., a Pembroke
Pines, Fl. maker and seller of window coverings, bedspreads and other
products, reported a fourth quarter net loss of $270,000. Revenue
declined 13%--to $10.6 million. For the year, its net income sank
70%--to $410,000, on a 3% revenue increase--to $52.2
million.
size='3'>Houston Exploration Co., a Houston,
Tx. oil and gas exploration firm, reported a fourth quarter net loss of
$19.4 million. Revenue declined 50%--to $76.7 million. For the year, its
net income was down 36%--to $67.8 million, while revenue declined
14%--to $532 million. Both the quarterly and fiscal results included a
$19 million writedown.
size='3'>Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., a Red
Bank, N.J. homebuilder, warned that it will incur a loss in the first
quarter, amid sagging home orders, partly because of $19 million in
charges related to its operations in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Florida
size='3'>.