articles Ratings /ratings/en/research/articles/210422-default-transition-and-recovery-four-u-s-defaults-push-2021-global-tally-to-32-11930797 content esgSubNav
In This List
COMMENTS

Default, Transition, and Recovery: Four U.S. Defaults Push 2021 Global Tally To 32

COMMENTS

Credit Trends: U.S. Corporate Bond Yields As Of Jan. 8, 2025

COMMENTS

2023 Short-Term Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study

COMMENTS

Credit Trends: U.S. Corporate Bond Yields As Of Dec. 11, 2024

COMMENTS

Default, Transition, and Recovery: Global Speculative-Grade Corporate Default Rate To Decline To 3.5% By September 2025


Default, Transition, and Recovery: Four U.S. Defaults Push 2021 Global Tally To 32

This year's global corporate default tally jumped to 32 after four U.S.-based companies defaulted since our last report. The defaulters are:

  • Texas-based midstream services provider Summit Midstream Partners L.P.,
  • Texas-based oilfield services provider Basic Energy Services Inc.,
  • New York-based durable medical device manufacturer Medical Depot Holdings Inc., and
  • Illinois-based mattress and bedding products manufacturer Serta Simmons Bedding LLC.

Five out of six defaults in April 2021 so far are from the U.S. region, which has reached 20 (63% of the global tally). The percentage of defaults in the region due to a distressed exchange has increased compared to 2020--nearly 66% of total U.S. defaults in 2021 have been distressed exchanges related compared to only 37% in 2020. However, the U.S. tally is still only half of the year-to-date 2020 levels as favorable financing conditions and an improving economic outlook have helped slow the pace of defaults in recent months. S&P Global Ratings expects the U.S. trailing-12-month speculative-grade corporate default rate to fall to 5.5% by December 2021 (see "U.S. Speculative-Grade Corporate Default Rate Forecast For Year-End 2021 Falls To 5.5%," March 30, 2021).

Chart 1

image

This Week's Observations

  • At this point in 2020, 2019, and 2018, global corporate defaults totaled 40, 42, and 31, respectively.
  • By region, the U.S. is leading the default tally, with 20 out of 32 defaults in 2021, followed by Europe with eight (see chart 2).
  • Among the U.S. defaults, oil and gas leads the tally, with four, followed by the retail and restaurants, and media and entertainment sectors, with three each.

Chart 2

image

Chart 3

image

Chart 4

image

Table 1

Global Year-To-Date Defaults Are Much Lower In 2021 (32) Than In 2020 (58)
12-month-trailing speculative-grade default rate (%) YTD 2021 YTD 2020 2020 Weakest links
U.S. 6.3* 20 40 146 322
Emerging market 3.1 3 7 28 35
Europe 5.9* 8 7 42 84
Other developed 5.9 1 4 10 25
Global 5.4 32 58 226 466
Note: *Trailing-12-month default rates from March 31, 2020, to March 31, 2021, are preliminary and subject to change. Year-to-date data as of April 21, 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

The 2021 Global Corporate Default Tally Rises To 32
Date Parent company Country Subsector To From Reason
1/5/2021

HGIM Corp.

U.S. Oil and gas SD CC Distressed exchange
1/6/2021

Promotora de Informaciones S.A.

Spain Media and entertainment SD CC Distressed exchange
1/8/2021 Burger BossCo Intermediate Inc. U.S. Retail/restaurants SD CCC Distressed exchange
1/8/2021 Riverbed Parent Inc. U.S. High technology SD CC Distressed exchange
1/21/2021

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.

U.S. Media and entertainment SD CC Distressed exchange
1/25/2021 Awesome Acquisition Co. L.P. U.S. Retail/restaurants D NR Chapter 11
1/25/2021 Alpha Media LLC U.S. Media and entertainment D NR Bankruptcy
1/27/2021 Imagine Group LLC (The) U.S. Media and entertainment D CCC Distressed exchange
2/2/2021 Belk Inc. U.S. Retail/restaurants D CC Missed interest payments
2/3/2021

Peabody Energy Corp.

U.S. Metals, mining, and steel SD CC Distressed exchange
2/3/2021 Confidential Confidential Health care SD CCC- Confidential
2/11/2021 Confidential Confidential Automotive D CCC- Confidential
2/11/2021

Vallourec

France Oil and gas SD CC Missed principal payments
2/19/2021

Renfro Corp.

U.S. Consumer products SD CCC- Distressed exchange
2/22/2021 CatLuxe Sarl (CatLuxe Acquistion Sarl) Luxembourg Consumer products SD CCC+ Distressed exchange
2/22/2021

Form Technologies LLC

U.S. Capital goods SD CC Distressed exchange
2/26/2021 YPF S.A Argentina Oil and gas SD CC Distressed exchange
3/2/2021

Sunshine 100 China Holdings Ltd.

Cayman Islands Homebuilders/real estate companies SD CCC- Distressed exchange
3/7/2021 Confidential Confidential Financial institutions D NR Confidential
3/8/2021 Confidential Confidential Financial institutions D B+ Confidential
3/16/2021 Ensign Drilling Inc. (Ensign Energy Services Inc.) Canada Oil and gas SD CCC+ Distressed exchange
3/16/2021

HighPoint Resources Corp.

U.S. Oil and gas D CC Chapter 11
3/17/2021

Washington Prime Group Inc.

U.S. Homebuilders/real estate companies D CC Missed interest payments
3/18/2021 Confidential Confidential Consumer products D CCC Confidential
3/23/2021 Al Mistral Holdco Ltd. U.K. Transportation SD CCC+ Distressed exchange
3/26/2021

Avation PLC

U.K. Transportation SD CC Distressed exchange
4/13/2021 YPF Energia Electrica S.A. (YPF S.A) Argentina Utilities SD CCC- Distressed exchange
4/14/2021

ION Geophysical Corp.

U.S. Oil and gas SD CC Distressed exchange
4/15/2021

Summit Midstream Partners, LP

U.S. Midstream SD CC Distressed exchange
4/16/2021

Basic Energy Services Inc.

U.S. Oil and gas D CCC- Missed interest payments
4/19/2021

Medical Depot Holdings Inc.

U.S. Health care SD CCC+ Distressed exchange
4/19/2021

Serta Simmons Bedding LLC

U.S. Consumer products SD CC Distressed exchange
NR--Not rated. SD--Selective default. Data as of April 21, 2021. Sources: S&P Global Ratings Research and S&P Global Market Intelligence’s CreditPro®. (B) designation indicates the issuers second default for 2021. * Sunshine 100 China Holdings Ltd. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands but invests, develops, and manages real estate properties in the People’s Republic of China. Companies incorporated in the Cayman Islands are included in the U.S. default rate computation due to the location as a U.S. tax haven.

Related Research

Default Studies

More analysis and statistics are available in our annual default studies, published on RatingsDirect:

Corporate (financial and nonfinancial)
Structured finance
U.S. public finance
Sovereign and international public finance

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

No content (including ratings, credit-related analyses and data, valuations, model, software or other application or output therefrom) or any part thereof (Content) may be modified, reverse engineered, reproduced or distributed in any form by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC or its affiliates (collectively, S&P). The Content shall not be used for any unlawful or unauthorized purposes. S&P and any third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents (collectively S&P Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or availability of the Content. S&P Parties are not responsible for any errors or omissions (negligent or otherwise), regardless of the cause, for the results obtained from the use of the Content, or for the security or maintenance of any data input by the user. The Content is provided on an “as is” basis. S&P PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, FREEDOM FROM BUGS, SOFTWARE ERRORS OR DEFECTS, THAT THE CONTENT’S FUNCTIONING WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR THAT THE CONTENT WILL OPERATE WITH ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE CONFIGURATION. In no event shall S&P Parties be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs or losses caused by negligence) in connection with any use of the Content even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Credit-related and other analyses, including ratings, and statements in the Content are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact. S&P’s opinions, analyses and rating acknowledgment decisions (described below) are not recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions, and do not address the suitability of any security. S&P assumes no obligation to update the Content following publication in any form or format. The Content should not be relied on and is not a substitute for the skill, judgment and experience of the user, its management, employees, advisors and/or clients when making investment and other business decisions. S&P does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor except where registered as such. While S&P has obtained information from sources it believes to be reliable, S&P does not perform an audit and undertakes no duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives. Rating-related publications may be published for a variety of reasons that are not necessarily dependent on action by rating committees, including, but not limited to, the publication of a periodic update on a credit rating and related analyses.

To the extent that regulatory authorities allow a rating agency to acknowledge in one jurisdiction a rating issued in another jurisdiction for certain regulatory purposes, S&P reserves the right to assign, withdraw or suspend such acknowledgment at any time and in its sole discretion. S&P Parties disclaim any duty whatsoever arising out of the assignment, withdrawal or suspension of an acknowledgment as well as any liability for any damage alleged to have been suffered on account thereof.

S&P keeps certain activities of its business units separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity of their respective activities. As a result, certain business units of S&P may have information that is not available to other S&P business units. S&P has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain non-public information received in connection with each analytical process.

S&P may receive compensation for its ratings and certain analyses, normally from issuers or underwriters of securities or from obligors. S&P reserves the right to disseminate its opinions and analyses. S&P's public ratings and analyses are made available on its Web sites, www.standardandpoors.com (free of charge), and www.ratingsdirect.com and www.globalcreditportal.com (subscription), and may be distributed through other means, including via S&P publications and third-party redistributors. Additional information about our ratings fees is available at www.standardandpoors.com/usratingsfees.

Any Passwords/user IDs issued by S&P to users are single user-dedicated and may ONLY be used by the individual to whom they have been assigned. No sharing of passwords/user IDs and no simultaneous access via the same password/user ID is permitted. To reprint, translate, or use the data or information other than as provided herein, contact S&P Global Ratings, Client Services, 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041; (1) 212-438-7280 or by e-mail to: research_request@spglobal.com.


 

Create a free account to unlock the article.

Gain access to exclusive research, events and more.

Already have an account?    Sign in