The global corporate default tally has increased to 14 after three issuers defaulted since our last report. The defaulters are:
- North Carolina-based sock manufacturer Renfro Corp.,
- Luxembourg-based bridal wear designer CatLuxe Sarl, and
- Delaware-based global manufacturer of engineered components Form Technologies LLC.
With these additions, defaults from distressed exchanges have reached 10 (about 71% of total defaults), continuing the trend seen in the last two quarters of 2020 (see chart 1). By region, the U.S. leads with eight distressed exchanges, followed by Europe with two, as these regions continue to shift away from more traditional forms of defaults such as missed interest payments or bankruptcy.
Chart 1
This Week's Observations
- By region, the U.S. is leading the default tally, with 10 out of 14 defaults in 2021 (see table 1).
- Four sectors: media and entertainment (3), retail and restaurants (3), oil and gas (2), and consumer products (2), contribute to about 71% of the 2021 defaults (see chart 3).
- The 12-month trailing speculative grade default rate for Europe declined to 5.0% in January 2021 from 5.3% in December 2020, while the same rate for the U.S. remained at 6.6%.
- The 12-month trailing speculative-grade default rate for the global energy and natural resources sector increased to 15.6% in January 2021 from 15.0% in December 2020 (see chart 4).
Chart 2
Chart 3
Chart 4
Chart 5
Table 1
Global Corporate Default Summary | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Region | 12-month trailing speculative-grade default rate (%) | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | Weakest links | |||||||
U.S. | 6.6 | 10 | 146 | 78 | 322 | |||||||
Emerging market | 3.1 | 0 | 28 | 22 | 35 | |||||||
Europe | 5.0 | 4 | 42 | 15 | 84 | |||||||
Other developed | 6.0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 25 | |||||||
Global | 5.4 | 14 | 226 | 118 | 466 | |||||||
Note: Trailing-12-month default rates from Jan. 31, 2020 -Jan. 31, 2021, are preliminary and subject to change. Year-to-date data as of Feb. 24, 2021. Weakest link data is as of Jan. 31, 2021. Other developed region includes Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. Default counts may include confidentially-rated issuers. Sources: S&P Global Ratings Research and S&P Global Market Intelligence’s CreditPro®. |
Table 2
Global Corporate Defaults 2021 | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Parent company | Country | Subsector | To | From | Reason | ||||||||
1/5/21 | HGIM Corp. | U.S. | Oil and gas | SD | CC | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
1/6/21 | Promotora de Informaciones S.A. | Spain | Media and entertainment | SD | CC | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
1/8/21 | Burger BossCo Intermediate Inc., | U.S. | Retail/restaurants | SD | CCC | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
1/8/21 | Riverbed Parent Inc., | U.S. | High technology | SD | CC | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
1/21/21 | AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. | U.S. | Media and entertainment | SD | CC | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
1/25/21 | Awesome Acquisition Co. L.P. | U.S. | Retail/restaurants | D | NR | Chapter 11 | ||||||||
1/27/21 | Imagine Group LLC (The) | U.S. | Media and entertainment | D | CCC | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
2/2/21 | Belk Inc., | U.S. | Retail/restaurants | D | CC | Missed interest payments | ||||||||
2/3/21 | Peabody Energy Corp. | U.S. | Metals, mining, and steel | SD | CC | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
2/11/21 | Confidential | Confidential | Automotive | D | CCC- | Confidential | ||||||||
2/11/21 | Vallourec | France | Oil and gas | SD | CC | Missed principal payments | ||||||||
2/19/21 | Renfro Corp. | U.S. | Consumer products | SD | CCC- | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
2/22/21 | CatLuxe Sarl (CatLuxe Acquistion Sarl) | Luxembourg | Consumer products | SD | CCC+ | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
2/22/21 | Form Technologies LLC | U.S. | Capital goods | SD | CC | Distressed exchange | ||||||||
Data as of Feb. 24, 2021. SD--Selective default. Sources: S&P Global Ratings Research and S&P Global Market Intelligence’s CreditPro®. |
Related Research
- Risky Credits: U.S. And Canadian Upgrades Outpace Downgrades In 'CCC' Category As Issuers Access Debt, Feb 24, 2021
- Revenue Pressures Continue To Weigh On Consumer-Related Weakest Links, Feb 22, 2021
- Pronovias (CatLuxe) Downgraded To 'SD' From 'CCC+' On Second-Lien Loan Interest Amendment, Feb 22, 2021
- Form Technologies LLC Downgraded To 'SD' From 'CC' On Completion Of Transaction Support Agreement, Feb 22, 2021
- The U.S. Speculative-Grade Corporate Default Rate Could Reach 7% By December 2021, Feb 19, 2021
- Renfro Corp. Downgraded To 'SD' From 'CCC-' On Super-Priming Term Loan Issuance; Priming Term Loan Rating Lowered To 'D', Feb 19, 2021
Default Studies
More analysis and statistics are available in our annual default studies, published on RatingsDirect:
Corporate (financial and nonfinancial)
- 2019 Annual Mexican National Scale Corporate And Public Finance Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Greater China Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Emerging Markets Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual European Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Latin American Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Asia Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Global Financial Services Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual U.S. Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Taiwan Ratings Corp. Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Global Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study
- Japanese Issuer Credit Rating Transitions Study 2019
- 2018 Annual Infrastructure Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2017 Annual Australia And New Zealand Corporate Default Study And Rating Transitions
- 2017 Annual Canadian Corporate Default Study And Rating Transitions
- 2017 Inaugural Nordic Default Study And Rating Transitions
- 2017 Annual Brazil Corporate Default Study And Rating Transitions
Structured finance
- 2019 Annual Mexican Structured Finance Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual European Structured Finance Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Global Leveraged Loan CLO Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Global Structured Finance Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Taiwan Structured Finance Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual Japanese Structured Finance Default And Rating Transition Study
U.S. public finance
- 2019 Annual U.S. Public Finance Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2017 Annual U.S. Public Finance Not-For-Profit Health Care Default Study And Rating Transitions
- 2017 U.S. Public Finance Utility Default Study And Rating Transitions
- 2017 U.S. Public Finance Transportation Default Study And Rating Transitions
- 2017 Annual U.S. Public Finance Housing Default Study And Rating Transitions
- 2017 Annual U.S. Public Finance Charter School Default Study And Rating Transitions
- 2017 Annual U.S. Public Finance Higher Education And Nonprofit Organization Default Study And Rating Transitions
Sovereign and international public finance
- 2019 Annual Sovereign Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2019 Annual International Public Finance Default And Rating Transition Study
This report does not constitute a rating action.
Credit Markets Research: | Nicole Serino, New York + 1 (212) 438 1396; nicole.serino@spglobal.com |
Sudeep K Kesh, New York (1) 212-438-7982; sudeep.kesh@spglobal.com | |
Research Contributor: | Shripati Pranshu, Mumbai; shripati.pranshu@spglobal.com |
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