Bangkok--2 May--Standard & Poor's Among the many negative effects of the financial market's ongoing volatility is a substantial increase in distressed credits, according to an article published today by Standard & Poor's. The report, titled "U.S. Credit Comment: Distressed Issuers Evolve From Past Ratings," says that Standard & Poor's monthly measure of distress—our "distress ratio"—has risen to 22%. "Our distress ratio is at its highest level since April 2003, and significantly higher than the 0.8% one year ago," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "A total of 189 issuers had at least one instrument trading at distressed levels in mid-March. We looked at issuers on our list of distressed credits with longer vintages, that is, issuers with initial ratings older than two years, but not older than four years, and one conclusion was that there's a distinct migration to lower ratings in the past four years. For example, the median rating in March 2004 was 'BB-', and in March 2008, it had fallen to 'B'. Further, the majority of companies, 84%, with ratings at least four years old were initially rated speculative grade, 'BB+' or lower, and the speculative share of ratings increases to 89% for recent vintage ratings, where ratings were assigned in the past two years." 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 Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com. Key Contacts: Americas Media Relations: (1) 212-438-6667 media_ [email protected] Americas Customer Service: (1) 212-438-7280 [email protected]