Bangkok--11 Jun--Standard & Poor's This month's count of 292 potential upgrades is the lowest count recorded since September 2004, the previous low being 305 in September 2007, according to an article published yesterday by Standard & Poor's. The article, which is titled "Upgrade Potential Across Credit Grades And Sectors (Premium)," says that the current count is 14 fewer than the number in April and 103 fewer than 12 months ago. The number of potential upgrades is 70 less than the trailing-12-month average. "There has been a continuous decline in the total count of potential bond upgrades since July 2007, the beginning of disruptions in the credit markets," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "We expect that the deceleration in potential bond upgrades this month will likely diminish further as factors that support upward momentum weaken." The credit deterioration in the U.S. today compared with 12 months ago is largely the reason for the drop in issuers poised for upgrades. In addition, though to a much lesser extent, Europe has echoed the trend in the U.S. Latin America, Eastern Europe/Middle East/Africa, and Canada, on the other hand, have been relatively stable. RatingsDirect is the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. The standard version of this article is part of our standard Global Fixed Income Research content. The premium version contains expanded analysis of the article's most significant points, typically broken out by sector and region. Also in the premium version are in-depth charts and tables, the underlying data of which are available for download. 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