Baltimore, MD -- (SBWire) -- 04/06/2011 -- Waste Management Inc. (WM - Analyst Report) has sold $400 million of its 4.6% senior notes due March 1, 2021 under an effective shelf registration statement previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Waste Management is offering the 4.6% senior notes at 99.762% of face value. The offering is expected to close on February 28, 2011.

The net proceeds of the offering will be utilized to repay $147 million principal amount of 7.65% Senior Notes that mature in March 2011, plus accrued and unpaid interest. The balance will be used for general corporate purposes, including additions to working capital, capital expenditures and the funding of potential acquisitions and business investments.

Waste Management ended 2010 with a long-term debt balance of $8.7 billion compared with $8.1 billion at the end of 2009. Of the long-term debt outstanding, Waste Management had $5.45 million in senior notes and debentures, maturing through 2039, with interest rates ranging from 4.75% to 7.75% (weighted average interest rate of 6.5% as on December 31, 2010).

As of December 31, 2010, the debt-to-capitalization ratio was 58.7%, compared with 58.5% as of December 31, 2009. The net effect of the issuance and the repayment will be an accretion of 68 basis points to the debt-to-capital ratio.

The company incurred net interest expenses of $473 million in 2010 compared with $426 million in 2009.

The significant increase was due to the issuance of an additional $600 million of senior notes in November 2009 to support acquisitions and investments made throughout 2010, considerably higher costs rellated to the execution and maintenance of Waste Management’s revolving credit facility (which was refinanced in June 2010) and a decrease in benefits to interest expense provided by active interest rate swaps as a result of decreases in the notional amount of swaps outstanding.

Waste Management’s high debt level is a cause of concern. Further, Waste Management’s debt-to-capitalization ratio exceeds that of its peer Republic Services Inc.’s (RSG - Analyst Report) ratio of 46.2%. Besides the weak financial strength, the company continues to be plagued by lower volumes.

Though the company asserted stabilizing volumes, we still see weakness in the market. Given the uncertain economic conditions, we believe it will take more than a couple of quarters before the company sees a substantial improvement in its volumes. On this note of caution, we currently have a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold recommendation) on the stock.

Houston, Texas-based Waste Management is the largest provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. The company provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services to nearly 20 million residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. It is also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the U.S.