Global Fallen Angel Potential Increases To 72 Issuers, Article Says

Our tally of global potential fallen angels increased by two issuers this past month to 72 issuers with US$196.37 (€131.48) billion in rated debt, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's, titled "Global Potential Fallen Angels (Premium)."


These companies are rated 'BBB-' and have either a negative outlook or ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications.

"Fallen angel incidence remained unchanged in October, with 67 issuers downgraded to speculative grade from investment grade, accounting for rated debt worth US$224.18 billion, or €150.11 billion," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "By debt volume, the current fallen angel tally nearly matches that of the US$226.42 billion in all of 2008."

By count, finance companies lead 2009's fallen angels to date with 12 entities, followed by banks with nine entities and utilities with eight.

Sectors poised to lead fallen angel incidence are banks with 16 entities, followed by consumer products with nine and metals, mining, and steel with seven.

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.