Bangkok--22 Jul--Standard & Poor's The potential downgrade count for this month stands at 745, according to an article published Friday, July 18, 2008 by Standard & Poor's. The article, which is titled "Downgrade Potential Across Credit Grades And Sectors (Premium)," says this is first time in the last 14 months that the number has decreased. However, the dip is largely because a number of potential downgrades became actual downgrades, not because of an improvement in those companies' creditworthiness. This month's count is four fewer than last month's all-time high. The number of potential downgrades is 124 more than in the same period a year ago, when a material erosion of the residential real estate sector and large write-downs by financial institutions sparked an upsurge of downgrade potential. Geographically, the U.S. continues to top the list of potential bond downgrades, where roughly a quarter of current ratings are at risk of downgrades. "By sector, mortgage institutions recorded the highest ratio of issuers with a negative bias relative to their total rated universe, followed by brokerage companies and forest products and building materials," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "This is unsurprising given the weakness in the lending and housing markets." Further, consumer discretionary sectors--including the media and entertainment and consumer products sectors--are poised for deterioration because of a lessening of credit availability and weakening demand. 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