Bangkok--26 Mar--Standard & Poor's The Standard & Poor's U.S. distress ratio accelerated by over five percentage points to 22.2% in March, up from 16.9% last month, according to an article published yesterday by Standard & Poor's. The report, titled "U.S. Distressed Debt Monitor: Distress Spreads To Financing Arms," says that the ratio is at its highest level since April 2003, and significantly above its 0.8% level one year ago. "Much of this month's expansion in the distress ratio is attributable to over $39.5 billion of senior unsecured issues backed by GMAC LLC and Ford Motor Credit Co.," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "In February, only one issue from GMAC LLC at $2 billion was trading at distressed levels. Currently, the two companies have a combined 32 issues trading with spreads over 1,000 basis points relative to Treasuries." The leveraged-loan market has also had a rapid advance in its distress ratio in February. The S&P/LSTA Leveraged-Loan Index distress ratio nearly doubled to 13.7% from 6.9% in January. This is the highest monthly reading since the series began in January 1997 and is one more indication of the overall stress in the credit markets. Ms. Vazza added, "At least one-quarter of all speculative-grade rated securities in eight nonfinancial sectors are now trading at distressed levels, with the media and entertainment sector leading the way at over 32%. Among distressed bonds, the total number of rated companies with issues trading at 1,000 basis points and higher is currently 189." 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.