Bangkok--19 Nov--Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgraded one issuer to investment grade ('BBB-' and higher) from speculative grade ('BB+' and lower) this past month. This brings the tally of rising stars to 17 issuers so far this year, affecting debt worth US$52.36 (?35.15) billion, said an article published November 17, 2009 by Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research, titled "Global Potential Rising Stars (Premium)."
"By comparison, this is the lowest year-to-date tally of rising stars since 2003, when 14 issuers had ratings raised to investment grade," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research. We define potential rising stars as entities rated 'BB+' with either a positive outlook or ratings on CreditWatch with positive implications.
"Five issuers were added to our list of global potential rising stars this month, bringing the tally to 15 issuers with US$25.34 billion, or ?17.01 billion, in rated debt," said Ms. Vazza. In contrast, the total had remained unchanged at 10 potential rising stars in each of the past three months.
On the other hand, the count of entities poised to enter speculative-grade territory (potential fallen angels) is at 72, with rated debt worth US$196.37 (?131.48) billion, down from the 18-year record high of 82 eight months ago. The decline is largely the result of issuers entering the potential fallen angel pool at a slower rate than fallen angels are materializing.
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 by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.
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