Bangkok--4 Mar--Standard & Poor's The number of entities at risk of downgrades reached a new record of 700 in February up from 687 last month, according to an article published Friday by Standard & Poor's. The report, titled "Downgrade Potential Across Credit Grades And Sectors (Premium)," says that credit fundamentals have been deteriorating in response to impending fears of a recession (currently estimated at 70%), along with a material slowdown in housing and consumer-related activity. "The number of potential downgrades is 70 more than reported in the same period a year ago and 65 more than the average recorded in 2007," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "There has been a continuous increase in the count of entities at risk of downgrades since mid-2007." By sector, media and entertainment recorded the highest ratio of issuers with a negative bias relative to their total rated universe, followed by forest products and building materials, consumer products, retail/restaurants, and automotive, indicating their high vulnerability to credit-quality deterioration. Of these, media and entertainment has consistently appeared in our monthly potential downgrade reports since the beginning of 2007. Weakness in the consumer discretionary domain is not surprising, given the negative effect of an economic slowdown, the housing decline, and volatility in energy prices. Ms. Vazza added, "Geographically, the U.S. continues to top the list of potential bond downgrades, in part, because of greater credit volatility and also because of a larger rated population. Of the total number of entities, about 66% are based in the U.S. and 18% 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. Media Contact: Mimi Barker, New York (1) 212-438-5054, [email protected] Analyst Contact: Diane Vazza, New York (1) 212-438-2760