Bangkok--10 May--Standard & Poor's
The number of entities poised for upgrades fell by five from our most recent report to 277 as of April 29. The count of potential upgrades has increased steadily since the low of 136 in March 2009 and is up from 219 in April 2010, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research, titled "Global Potential Upgrades: A Small Decline In The Number Of Entities On The Cusp Of Potential Upgrades."
However, the total has hovered around 280 for the past four months, which could imply that upgrade potential has reached a temporary plateau.
We define potential upgrades as issuers that have either positive outlooks or ratings on CreditWatch with positive implications across rating categories 'AA+' to 'B-'.
Since our previous report, we removed 45 issuers and added another 40 to our list of potential upgrades.
Of the issuers that were on our list of potential upgrades last month, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its ratings on 34, or 12% of the total. Four of these issuers remain on the list for further potential upgrades.
Much of the positive rating activity involved U.S. entities. Of the entities newly added to the potential upgrades list, 29, or 73%, are based in the U.S., and 15 of the 34 entities upgraded since the last report (44%) are from the U.S.
"The sectors that account for the largest proportions of the potential bond upgrades list are media and entertainment and chemicals, packaging, and environmental services with 10% each," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research.
"Across sectors, credit market conditions look neutral in comparison with the past 10 years," said Ms. Vazza. "Overall, positive bias at the end of the first quarter was 9.3%, up from 9.0% at the end of 2010. In comparison, the average overall positive bias over the past 10 years is 9.2%, and this measure reached its 10-year low of 4.6% in the first quarter of 2009."
The report is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com. If you are not a RatingsDirect subscriber, you may purchase a copy of the report by calling (1) 212-438-7280 or sending an e-mail to
[email protected]. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.
Media Contact:
Mimi Barker, New York (1) 212-438-5054,
[email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
Diane Vazza, New York (1) 212-438-2760