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Default, Transition, and Recovery: The 2021 Corporate Default Tally Remains At 43 For The Second Consecutive Week

This year's global corporate default tally remains at 43, with no defaults for the second consecutive week. With less than half the number of defaults compared with this point in 2020, defaults have slowed considerably this year as creditworthiness even at the lower rating levels is stabilizing.

In the U.S., 15 out of 19 sectors have default totals that are less than one-third of defaults in 2020 as the number of issuers rated 'CCC' and below has decreased from 2020 all-time highs. Additionally, negative bias (percentage of issuers with negative outlooks or ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications) across U.S. sectors has eased over the last few months. However, many harder-hit sectors, such as media and entertainment, oil and gas, and retail, have higher proportions of speculative-grade issuers than at the start of the pandemic, leaving them vulnerable to further defaults.

Chart 1

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This Week's Observations

  • In 2020, 199 out of 226 defaults were rated 'CCC+' or lower, while so far in 2021, 39 out of 43 were rated 'CCC+' or lower.
  • By region, the U.S. leads defaults in 2021, with 24 out of 43 (nearly 56%), whereas at this point in 2020, there were 63 defaults from the U.S. out of 94 (nearly 67%).
  • By sector, oil and gas leads the default tally in 2021, with seven. At this time in 2020, there were 14 defaults from the sector.
  • We expect the 12-month-trailing speculative-grade default rate for the U.S. to decrease to 4.7% in May from 5.4% in April 2021, while the same for Europe is expected to decrease to 5.4% from 5.8% through May 2021 (see table 1).

Chart 2

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Chart 3

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Chart 4

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Chart 5

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Table 1

U.S. 12-Month-Trailing Speculative-Grade Default Rate Declined To 5.4%
Region 12-month-trailing speculative-grade default rate (%) 2021 YTD 2020 YTD 2020 Weakest links
U.S. 4.7* 24 63 146 235
Emerging markets 2.7 6 14 28 27
Europe 5.4* 11 11 42 71
Other developed 3.5 2 6 10 20
Global 4.8 43 94 226 353
*Trailing-12-month default rates from May 31, 2020-May 31, 2021, are preliminary and subject to change. Year-to-date data as of June 2. Weakest link data as of April 30, 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 Remains At 43
Date Parent company Country Subsector To From Reason
5-Jan-21

HGIM Corp.

U.S. Oil and gas SD CC Distressed exchange
6-Jan-21

Promotora de Informaciones S.A.

Spain Media and entertainment SD CC Distressed exchange
8-Jan-21

Burger BossCo Intermediate Inc.

U.S. Retail/restaurants SD CCC Distressed exchange
8-Jan-21

Riverbed Parent Inc.

U.S. High technology SD CC Distressed exchange
21-Jan-21

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.

U.S. Media and entertainment SD CC Distressed exchange
25-Jan-21

Awesome Acquisition Co. L.P.

U.S. Retail/restaurants D NR Chapter 11
25-Jan-21

Alpha Media LLC

U.S. Media and entertainment D NR Bankruptcy
27-Jan-21

Imagine Group LLC (The)

U.S. Media and entertainment D CCC Distressed exchange
2-Feb-21

Belk Inc.

U.S. Retail/restaurants D CC Missed interest payments
3-Feb-21

Peabody Energy Corp.

U.S. Metals, mining, and steel SD CC Distressed exchange
3-Feb-21 Confidential Confidential Health care SD CCC- Confidential
11-Feb-21 Confidential Confidential Automotive D CCC- Confidential
11-Feb-21

Vallourec

France Oil and gas SD CC Missed principal payments
19-Feb-21

Renfro Corp.

U.S. Consumer products SD CCC- Distressed exchange
22-Feb-21

CatLuxe Sarl (CatLuxe Acquisition Sarl)

Luxembourg Consumer products SD CCC+ Distressed exchange
22-Feb-21

Form Technologies LLC

U.S. Capital goods SD CC Distressed exchange
26-Feb-21

YPF S.A.

Argentina Oil and gas SD CC Distressed exchange
2-Mar-21

Sunshine 100 China Holdings Ltd.

Cayman Islands Homebuilders/real estate companies SD CCC- Distressed exchange
7-Mar-21 Confidential Confidential Financial institutions D NR Confidential
8-Mar-21 Confidential Confidential Financial institutions D B+ Confidential
16-Mar-21

Ensign Drilling Inc. (Ensign Energy Services Inc.)

Canada Oil and gas SD CCC+ Distressed exchange
16-Mar-21

Highpoint Resources Corp.

U.S. Oil and gas D CC Chapter 11
17-Mar-21

Washington Prime Group Inc.

U.S. Homebuilders/real estate companies D CC Missed interest payments
18-Mar-21 Confidential Confidential Consumer products D CCC Confidential
23-Mar-21

AI Mistral Holdco Ltd.

U.K. Transportation SD CCC+ Distressed exchange
26-Mar-21

Avation PLC

U.K. Transportation SD CC Distressed exchange
13-Apr-21

YPF Energia Electrica S.A. (YPF S.A)

Argentina Utilities SD CCC- Distressed exchange
14-Apr-21

ION Geophysical Corp.

U.S. Oil and gas SD CC Distressed exchange
15-Apr-21

Summit Midstream Partners L.P.

U.S. Midstream SD CC Distressed exchange
16-Apr-21

Basic Energy Services Inc.

U.S. Oil and gas D CCC- Missed interest payments
19-Apr-21

Medical Depot Holdings Inc.

U.S. Health care SD CCC+ Distressed exchange
19-Apr-21

Serta Simmons Bedding LLC

U.S. Consumer products SD CC Distressed exchange
23-Apr-21

Isagenix Worldwide Inc.

U.S. Consumer products SD CCC Distressed exchange
26-Apr-21 Confidential Confidential High technology SD CCC+ Confidential
27-Apr-21

Maxcom Telecomunicaciones S.A.B. de C.V.

Mexico Telecommunications D CCC- Missed interest payments
28-Apr-21

Future Retail Ltd.

India Retail/restaurants SD CCC- Distressed exchange
28-Apr-21 Confidential Confidential Consumer products SD CCC- Confidential
30-Apr-21

Codere S.A.

Spain Media and entertainment SD CC Missed interest payments
3-May-21 Confidential Confidential Transportation D CC Confidential
10-May-21

gategroup Holding AG

Switzerland Transportation SD CCC Distressed exchange
10-May-21

Voyager Aviation Holdings LLC

U.S. Transportation SD CC Distressed exchange
14-May-21

CDRH Parent Inc.

U.S. Health care D CC Distressed exchange
19-May-21

Boart Longyear Ltd.

Australia Metals, mining, and steel D CC Bankruptcy
NR--Not rated. SD--Selective default. *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. Data as of June 2, 2021. Sources: S&P Global Ratings Research and S&P Global Market Intelligence’s CreditPro®.

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
Secondary Contact:David C Tesher, New York + 212-438-2618;
david.tesher@spglobal.com
Research Contributor:Shripati Pranshu, CRISIL Global Analytical Center, an S&P affiliate, Mumbai

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