Bangkok--7 Apr--Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgraded two issuers to investment grade ('BBB-' and higher) from speculative grade ('BB+' and lower) this past month, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research.
The two new rising stars since our previous report are U.S.-based AGCO Corp. and Canada-based grain handler Viterra Inc.
These two issuers bring the year-to-date 2010 total to four rising stars with rated debt worth US$2.34 (?1.72) billion, according to the article, titled "Global Potential Rising Stars (Premium)." By comparison, 2009's tally of 22 rising stars was the lowest total since 2003, when Standard & Poor's upgraded 20 issuers to investment grade.
We removed AGCO and Viterra from our list of potential rising stars and added another six this past month. This brings the total to 16 issuers with US$29.25 (?21.62) billion in rated debt. By issuer count, this is one more than the average of the past 12 months.
We define potential rising stars as entities rated 'BB+' with either a positive outlook or ratings on CreditWatch with positive implications.
"So far this year, rising stars exceed fallen angels by two," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research. "Despite recent positive developments, we currently expect more credit quality deterioration than improvement with respect to crossover credit quality, especially because potential fallen angels lead potential rising stars 71 to 16."
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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