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
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
Chart 3
Chart 4
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
- Global Credit Conditions Q2 2021: The Risks Of An Uneven Recovery, March 31, 2021
- Credit Conditions Emerging Markets Q2 2021: Brighter Prospects Prone To Setbacks, March 31, 2021
- The U.S. Distress Ratio Is Down Nearly 90% Since March, March 10, 2021
- S&P Global Ratings Revises Oil And AECO Natural Gas Price Assumptions And Introduces Dutch Title Transfer Facility Assumption, March 8, 2021
- COVID-19 Impact: Key Takeaways From Our Articles, April 21, 2021
- Medical Depot Holdings Inc. Downgraded To 'SD' On Distressed Exchange; Some Debt Ratings Lowered, April 19, 2021
- Serta Simmons Bedding LLC Downgraded To 'SD' From 'CC' On Distressed Exchange; Debt Rating Lowered To 'D', April 19, 2021
- Basic Energy Services Inc. Ratings Lowered To 'D' On Missed Interest Payment, April 16, 2021
- Summit Midstream Partners L.P. Rating Lowered To 'SD' From 'CC' On Closing Of Preferred Equity Distressed Exchange, April 15, 2021
Default Studies
More analysis and statistics are available in our annual default studies, published on RatingsDirect:
Corporate (financial and nonfinancial)
- 2020 Annual Global Corporate Default And Rating Transition Study
- 2020 Annual Japanese Issuer Credit Rating Transition Study
- 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
- 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
- 2020 Annual Japanese Structured Finance Default And Rating Transition Study
- 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
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
- 2020 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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