Bangkok--20 Jun--Standard & Poor's
Canadian oil and gas company Opti Canada Inc. defaulted on its second-lien debt yesterday, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's titled "Global Corporate Default Update (June 10 - 16, 2011) (Premium)." This raised the 2011 global corporate default tally to 16 issuers.
Ten of this year's defaults were based in the U.S., two each were based in Canada and New Zealand, and one each was based in the Czech Republic and Russia. By comparison, 42 global corporate issuers had defaulted by this time in 2010. Of these defaulters, 30 were U.S.-based issuers, two were European issuers, three were from the emerging markets, and seven were in the Other Developed region (Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand).
Six of this year's defaults were due to distressed exchanges, and another six were related to missed interest or principal payments—both among the top reasons for default in 2010. Of the remaining four, two issuers defaulted after they filed for bankruptcy, another had its banking license revoked by its country's central bank, and the fourth was forced into liquidation as a result of regulatory action. Of the defaults in 2010, 28 resulted from missed interest or principal payments, 25 were from Chapter 11 and foreign bankruptcy filings, 23 from distressed exchanges, three from receiverships, one from regulatory directives, and one from administration.
Following a year of record-setting highs in terms of global corporate default statistics, 2010 provided the markets with a noticeable reversal. In 2010, 81 global corporate issuers defaulted, down from the record high of 265 in 2009. None of the 81 defaulters began the year with an investment-grade rating. The debt amount these defaults affected fell to $95.7 billion, also considerably lower than in 2009.
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