Bangkok--7 Apr--Standard & Poor's
Amid persisting economic and financial distress, the number of defaults in the U.S. continued to increase through March, said an article published Thursday, April 2, 2009 by Standard & Poor's. Relevant credit metrics in the U.S. show continued deterioration of credit quality and adverse lending conditions, contrasted with the first signs of life among new issuance.
The number of corporate defaults in 2009 continued the expansion seen at the end of 2008, with 13 more U.S. defaults in March, bringing the year-to-date total to 38, according to the article, titled "U.S. Credit Metrics Monthly: Default Rate Expands To 5.5% In March (Premium)."
All but two of the defaults in March hail from nonfinancial sectors, with two failed credit unions representing the financial company defaults.
The preliminary estimate for the U.S. 12-month-trailing speculative-grade default rate in March is 5.5% (subject to revision), higher than the 4.9% in February and much higher than the 1.48% reported in March 2008.
"We expect the speculative-grade default rate to escalate to a mean forecast of 13.9% by February 2010, but it could reach as high as 18.5% if economic conditions are worse than expected," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group.
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