Bangkok--10 Feb--Standard & Poor's
Eight more global corporate issuers defaulted this week, bringing the number of global corporate defaults to 27 issuers so far this year, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's.
Five defaulters were in the U.S., one was in Mexico, one was in Hong Kong, and the remaining one was a confidentially rated issuer, according to the article, titled "Global Corporate Default Update (Jan. 30 - Feb. 5, 2009) (Premium)." Five of these defaults were due to missed interest payments, one was a distressed exchange (Bonten Media Group Inc.), and one has already declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy (Spectrum Brands Inc.). By comparison, nearly three-quarters of the defaults this year were due to missed interest payments, while declared bankruptcies account for much of the remaining defaults. Distressed exchanges and regulatory supervision defaults have been limited to one issuer each.
"But, we expect distressed exchanges, in particular, to grow as the year progresses, likely as a result of an increasing number of companies having near-term debt maturities and little chance of refinancing or rolling over debt," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group.
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Media Contact:
Mimi Barker, New York (1) 212-438-5054, [email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
Diane Vazza, New York (1) 212-438-2760