Bangkok--19 Dec--Standard & Poor's Globally, downgrade risk continues to remain elevated, even surpassing the 2006 average, according to an article published Dec. 14, 2007, by Standard & Poor's. The report, titled, "Downgrade Potential Across Credit Grades And Sectors (Premium)," says that the number of entities at risk of downgrades has steadily increased during the past six months, rising to 662 in December, two more than the number reported in November and 27 more than the average reported in the past 12 months. "Among the leading sectors at risk of downgrade, consumer products and media and entertainment have consistently appeared in our monthly potential downgrade reports since the beginning of the year," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "Weakness in the consumer discretionary domain is not surprising, given the negative effect of an economic slowdown, the housing decline, and high energy prices." The highest ratio of issuers with a negative bias relative to their total rated universe continues to be concentrated in the consumer products, media and entertainment, retail/restaurants, and automotive sectors, indicating that these sectors are potentially most vulnerable to credit-quality deterioration. 'B' rated companies are most at risk for potential downgrades, with 149 companies (23% of the total). Of the 662 companies at risk for downgrades globally, 63% have ratings of 'BB+' or lower. Ms. Vazza added, "Geographically, the U.S. tops the list of potential bond downgrades, in part, because of greater credit volatility and because of a larger rated population. Of the total number of entities, almost 68% are based in the U.S. and 17% in Europe." The report is available to RatingsDirect subscribers who have upgraded their package to include the Global Fixed Income Research add-on. RatingsDirect is 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 with the Global Fixed Income Research add-on, please contact your local Standard & Poor's representative or [email protected] for further information. 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.