Bangkok--18 Mar--Standard & Poor's Five defaults were recorded in February 2008, and there have been another two to date in March, bringing the year-to-date total to 12, according to an article published Friday, March 14 by Standard & Poor's. The report, titled "Global Bond Markets' Weakest Links And Monthly Default Rates," says that these defaults affected debt worth $9.6 billion. In contrast, only five defaults were recorded during the same period last year and only 22 during 2007. "We expect the U.S. speculative-grade default rate to increase to 4.6% in the next 12 months, and continue its ascent from near 25-year lows recorded last year," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "The increase in defaults will stem from weak economic activity, which could partially depress earnings, and the ongoing challenges in the credit-pricing environment." By sector, the media and entertainment, consumer products, and retail/restaurants sectors continued to show the most vulnerability for the ninth consecutive month, with the highest concentration of weakest links. Modest increases in the default rate in certain sectors are beginning to surface. With two recent defaulting entities in the health care/chemicals sector, for instance, the default rate increased to 1.87% in February from 1.14% a month ago and zero 12 months ago. As the economy continues to deteriorate, we expect to see more defaults within the consumer-related sectors, such as retail and restaurants, where there is a higher number of weakest links and distressed companies. Ms. Vazza added, "As of March 10, 2008, 114 weakest links globally were vulnerable to default on combined rated debt worth $64.6 billion. The current count is the highest in 16 months." 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