Bangkok--13 Nov--Standard & Poor's
Globally, seven more entities moved to speculative-grade territory since our last monthly fallen angels report, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's.
This brings the year-to-date tally to 40 issuers, affecting US$205.97 (?160.51) billion in rated debt, already a sizable 57% more than the total debt affected by fallen angels in 2007, according to the article, titled "Global Potential Fallen Angels (Premium)."
"Such an increase is in line with our expectations, where fallen angels were poised to overtake rising stars, particularly amid the current credit environment," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "This month, fallen angels indeed exceeded rising stars by two issuers and 22% of debt."
Fallen angels are issuers downgraded to speculative grade ('BB+' and lower) from investment grade ('BBB-' and higher), whereas rising stars move in the opposite direction.
As of Nov. 6, 2008, 57 entities, ten more than the previous month, with rated debt worth US$147.81 (?115.19) billion have been identified as potential fallen angels, rated 'BBB-' with either a negative outlook or with ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications. These movements are commensurate, albeit slightly accelerated, with the increased momentum of fallen-angel activity since the five-year low in July 2007.
Sectors poised to lead fallen-angel incidence include utilities with nine entities, followed by forest products and building materials with seven entities, banks with six entities, transportation with five, and retail/restaurants with four.
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:
David Wargin, New York (1) 212-438-1579, [email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
Diane Vazza, New York (1) 212-438-2760