New Gulf Resources, LLC Closes $500MM Financing; Acquires East Texas Assets

9:01a ET May 14, 2014 (PR NewsWire) 

 

New Gulf Resources, LLC ("NGR") today announced the closing on May 9 of a $500 Million financing transaction to support the acquisition of a key East Texas asset and for corporate purposes. NGR structured the transaction as a senior and subordinated debt issuance and also granted warrants to purchase equity in the Company. The financing closed simultaneously with NGR's $450 Million, before closing adjustments, acquisition of 83,000 net acres in Leon, Grimes, Madison, Brazos and Walker Counties, Texas from subsidiaries of Houston-based Halcon Resources. The acquisition includes current production of 3,600 barrels of oil per day equivalent, a natural gas gathering and processing system that spans three counties, and rights to 330 square miles of newly shot and processed 3D seismic data over the acreage. NGR now has over 90,000 acres in East Texas. The NGR team had previously been highly successful in producing horizontally from the Woodbine formation in two of the five distinct project areas acquired. The Company plans to begin the initial phase of its drilling program in June and plans to exploit the Woodbine, Eagle Ford, Buda, Glen Rose and multiple other prospective zones in the stacked-pay, target rich East Texas basin. "Today we have married a first class hydrocarbon rich asset with a team that has successfully exploited and developed two prior projects in the basin," said Ralph Hill, Chairman and CEO. "We expect to increase production substantially as we deploy a multiple rig program in these proven areas." As a key part of this project, NGR has entered into a Strategic Alliance with Halliburton to furnish certain well products and services. Included in the Alliance is the opportunity for NGR to be on the forefront of utilizing Halliburton's Cypher Process.

About New Gulf Resources, LLCNew Gulf Resources, LLC (www.newgulfresources.com) is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and owns, manages and operates upstream energy projects primarily in East Texas. NGR is highly experienced in the application of advanced technologies such as horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracture stimulation to maximize the value of U.S. oil reserves. 

SOURCE New Gulf Resources, LLC

Investment Approach: How to Build a Diversified Core Portfolio

	1| Establish Your Personal Goals Define what you're trying to achieve with your investment — do you have one investment goal, or several? Are you saving for a home, tuition, retirement, or something else entirely? Once you know what you're trying to achieve, determine whether your investment will be over the course of a few years or a few decades. Then figure out when you'll begin using the assets you expect to accumulate, and how long you hope to continue making those withdrawals. After you've defined your goal and time horizon, you need to assess your risk tolerance. This means making sure the level of risk you're comfortable living with is aligned with the returns you expect or seek. Finally, take a careful look at your available assets, income and expenses. You need to know how much you want to initially fund your investment with, and how much you'll be able to regularly contribute thereafter. Only then will you be in a position to gauge whether your investment goal is realistic, or whether you need to reconsider any of the variables. 2 | Set Your Portfolio Strategy Now that you know where you want to go financially, you need to figure out how you're going to get there. Having a savings account or owning your home are important to the big picture, but you may also want to consider additional investment products if you expect to achieve all your investment goals. Keep in mind that investing isn't a random exercise. You want to assemble an investment portfolio that's right for you. To do this, you need an asset allocation strategy. It's the road map you'll use to help you diversify your overall investment across an array of asset classes. An allocation strategy shouldn't have you put all of your eggs in one basket. Different asset classes don't always behave the same in different types of markets, and a properly diversified portfolio will provide you with the highest probability of achieving your investment goals without exposing you to more risk than you're comfortable with. 3 | Execute Your Strategy Once you know what your financial goals are and have a plan to reach them, you need to begin taking steps to arrive at your destination. Research — that which you do yourself combined with the research you can rely on for a second opinion — will help you identify the asset classes, sub-asset classes and security types you should have in your portfolio. Research will help you answer difficult questions. For example, if you think you should have exposure to precious metals in your portfolio, would it be better to buy a mining stock, or an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that tracks the metal in the commodities markets? Should you buy stocks in individual companies, through mutual funds, ETFs, or any other investment instruments? What about bonds? Should you buy Treasuries, Agencies, Corporates, or Municipals? And no matter what you invest in, you always want the get best value in terms of acquisition costs and fees and tax treatment. 4 | Analyze Your Performance Your investment journey doesn't end once you've built your portfolio. You need to regularly reevaluate your investment's actual performance — compare your current asset positions against the target allocations defined in your asset allocation strategy. If you need help, we can show you how. Over time, the value of individual assets in your portfolio is likely to change. These fluctuations can lead your portfolio's asset allocation mix to drift out of balance from your target allocation model. To bring your portfolio back to its original mix, you need to periodically rebalance it by selling securities that have increased in value and buying those securities that have decreased in value. It doesn't take much time, and our tools and services make it simple. Ultimately, the analysis of your portfolio requires you to focus on what has worked and what can be done better. Then it takes discipline to periodically rebalance your portfolio — it's the best way to keep your asset allocation going where you want it to go.  Before investing in any investment company, carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses.

Fitch: U.S Credit Card ABS Unabated by 1Q GDP Decline

10:42a ET June 2, 2014 (Business Wire) 

Last quarter's GDP contraction did little to stem the strong performance of U.S. credit card ABS, according to the latest monthly index results from Fitch Ratings.

Despite a few seasonal bumps over the April collection period, most U.S. credit card ABS metrics remain at or near record levels. Delinquencies plunged to new lows while excess spread reached record highs. All signs indicate that the health of U.S. consumers is improving, despite the contraction in GDP during the first quarter.

Last week's announcement regarding first quarter-2014 (1Q'14) GDP indicated that the U.S. economy contracted. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP decreased at an annual rate of 1% in the first three months of the year. However there were other indicators showing the U.S. economy might bounce back in the second quarter.

According to the Conference Board, the Consumer Confidence Index increased moderately for the month of May to 83.0 from 81.7. In addition, Consumer Price Index increased 0.3 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis according to the U.S. Department of Labor, contributing to solid credit ABS performance. However, relatively flat sales could be mildly negative. According to the Commerce Department, retail sales rose just 0.1% in April, after notching a 1.5% gain in March. All indications still point to U.S. credit card ABS performance staying in record territory for the near term.

After hitting a record low in April, Fitch's Prime Credit Card 60+ Day Delinquency Index decreased another two basis points (bps) to 1.15% in May. The decline marks a milestone for the index reaching the lowest level since its launch in 1991. The index has declined 22% year-over-year (YOY) and now stands 75% below its peak level reached at the end of 2009.

While the delinquency index improved, Fitch's Prime Credit Card Chargeoff Index increased seven bps to 3.11% in May. However, the index remains down nearly 21% YOY. Notably, the Fitch Prime Chargeoff Index is now 73% below its historic high of 11.52% reached in September 2009.

Consistent with seasonal trends, Fitch's Prime Credit Card Monthly Payment Rate Index declined to 26.23% in May. This index is now 12% higher YOY and well above its historical average of 17.18%. Similarly, Fitch's Prime Credit Card Gross Yield Index decreased 87 bps month-over-month (MOM) to reach 18.25% in May. Prime Gross Yield has declined every May since Fitch created its credit card ABS index back in 1991.

Fitch's Prime Credit Card Three-Month Average Excess Spread Index also set a new record during in May increasing 24 bps MOM to a new high of 13.27%.

Fitch's Prime Credit Card Index was established in 1991 and tracks over $129.7 billion of prime credit card ABS backed by approximately $243.6 billion of principal receivables. The index is primarily comprised of general purpose portfolios originated by institutions such as Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, Capital One, Discover, etc.

Fitch's retail credit card indices registered positive momentum in delinquencies and MPR in May, though gross yield and chargeoffs faired less favorably. However, Fitch's Retail Credit Card Three-month Average Excess Spread Index increased 12 bps MOM to 18.60%, an all-time high for the index since its inception in 2004.

Fitch's Retail Credit Card 60+ Day Delinquency Index decreased by two bps MOM to 2.44%in May. During the same period however, Fitch's Retail Credit Card Chargeoff Index increased by 30 bps to 6.95%, increasing 4.51% MOM. However, the Retail Chargeoff index remains 50% lower than its peak of 13.41% reached in March 2010.

Fitch's Retail Credit Card Gross Yield Index decreased by 87 bps to 27.52% from the previous month, a 3.06% decrease. However, Fitch's Retail Credit Card MPR Index increased by 57 bps MOM to 15.91%.

Fitch's Retail Credit Card Indices track more than $20 billion of retail or private label credit card ABS backed by over $31.5 billion of principal receivables. The index is primarily comprised of private label portfolios originated and serviced by Citibank (South Dakota) N.A., GE Capital Retail Bank and Comenity Bank (Formerly World Financial Network National Bank). More than 165 retailers are incorporated including Wall-Mart, Sears, Home Depot, Federated, Lowes, J.C. Penney, Limited Brands, Best Buy, Lane Bryant and Dillard's, among others.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.

http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=bwnews&sty=20140602005912r1&sid=cmtx6&distro=nx

SOURCE: Fitch Ratings

Fitch Ratings Jenny Ovalle Associate Director +1-212-908-0849 Fitch Ratings, Inc., One State Street Plaza, New York, NY 10004 or Michael Dean Managing Director +1-212-908-0556 or Media Relations Sandro Scenga, New York, +1-212-908-0278 sandro.scenga@fitchratings.com