Bangkok--29 Jan--Standard & Poor's The U.S. distress ratio accelerated by five percentage points to 11.1% in January, from 6.1% in December, according to an article published on Friday, Jan. 25, 2008, by Standard & Poor's. The report, titled "U.S. Distressed Debt Monitor: Fastest Monthly Gain In Five Years (Premium)," says that the ratio is at its highest level since September 2003, whereas the monthly jump from December was the fastest recorded since October 2002. "The increase in distress naturally follows the continued widening in nondistressed speculative-grade bond spreads, which rose nearly 100 basis points in a month's time to 637 basis points on Jan. 15 from 541 basis points on Dec. 12," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "Among distressed bonds, the total number of rated companies with issues trading at spread cutoff levels, that is 1,000 basis points and 800 basis points, is currently at 202." Distress in the loan market also continued to stay elevated relative to the 2007 average of 0.95%. The Standard & Poor's/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index distress ratio was at 3.2% in December, up markedly from 2.4% in November. This is the highest reading since April 2004 and the fifth month in a row above 1%, after remaining below that mark for 20 consecutive months. Ms. Vazza added, "As of Jan. 15, distressed issues cumulatively affected debt worth $64.5 billion, nearly $30 billion higher than in December. Based on debt volume, the media and entertainment sector had the largest exposure, constituting 22% of the total debt affected, followed by financial companies representing 15% of total debt affected. And, by number of issues as a percentage of all distressed credits, the media and entertainment sector dominated at 21%, with retail/restaurants and consumer products both following at 14%." 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.