Bangkok--3 Oct--Standard & Poor's The number of entities poised to benefit from upgrades stood at 388 in August, one fewer than the number reported in August and five more than reported 12 months ago, according to an article published today by Standard & Poor's. The report, titled "Upgrade Potential Across Credit Grades And Sectors," said that by rating category, the preponderance of potential upgrades was in the 'B' rating category, including the 'B+', 'B', and 'B-' rating designations. These three combined constituted 33% of the total pool of potential upgrades. "Financial companies continued their lead among sectors most likely to benefit from upgrades, displaying a high percentage of issuers listed with a positive bias," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "Nonetheless, financials were less well positioned than earlier, as upgrades run their course and weakness in home-equity portfolios increase the need for substantial additions to reserves at large U.S. banks. Indeed, the share of financial companies with positive bias has progressively declined since the beginning of the year." Within nonfinancials, the high technology; metals, mining, and steel; telecommunications; and utility sectors appear especially well placed for potential rating upgrades. In these sectors, the proportion of issuers with a positive bias is higher than has been recorded historically, highlighting the likelihood that companies within these sectors will be upgraded in the relatively near future. Of the total, 107 companies are members of various Standard & Poor's equity indices. Ms. Vazza added, "Comparative studies on the prevailing trend for the past 24 months project the relative growth rate of potential bond upgrades to outpace the growth rate for potential bond downgrades, even though the total number of potential bond upgrades is much smaller." The report is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. If you are not a RatingsDirect subscriber, you may purchase a copy of the report by calling (1) 212-438-9823 or sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Credit Ratings in the left navigation bar, select Find a Rating, then Credit Ratings Search. 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 Contact: Diane Vazza, New York (1) 212-438-2760