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Default, Transition, and Recovery: 2021 Corporate Defaults To Date Are Nearly 60% Lower Than They Were In 2020

With no defaults this week, the 2021 corporate default tally remained at 45, 59% lower than the number of defaults at this point in 2020. By sector, the oil and gas, consumer products, and media and entertainment sectors lead defaults so far with seven, six, and five, respectively. These sectors also led at this point in 2020, but have seen defaults decrease by more than 65% with credit metrics across these sectors showing signs of stabilizing. We estimate that the U.S 12-month trailing speculative grade default rate will fall to 4.7% in May 2021 and the Europe 12-month trailing speculative-grade default rate will decrease to 5.4%.

This Week's Observations

  • The number of defaults so far in 2021 (45) is much lower than at this point in 2020 (110) and 2019 (57), and is level with the number of defaults at this point in 2018 (45).
  • The oil and gas sector has the highest number of defaults so far in 2021 with seven, compared to 18 defaults at this point in 2020.
  • The percentage of bankruptcies and defaults due to missed interest payments has decreased in 2021 compared with the previous year, while distressed exchanges as a total percentage of defaults has increased (see chart 4).

Chart 1

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Chart 2

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Chart 3

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Chart 4

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Table 1

U.S. Leads 2021 Defaults With 25 Out Of 45
Region 12-month trailing speculative-grade default rate (%) 2021 YTD 2020 YTD 2020 Weakest links
U.S. 4.7* 25 72 146 235
Emerging market 2.7 7 15 28 27
Europe 5.4* 11 15 42 71
Other developed 3.5 2 8 10 20
Global 4.8 45 110 226 353
*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 16, 2021. Weakest link data is 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 45
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. (A)

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

AI 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.

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
4/23/2021

Isagenix Worldwide, Inc

U.S. Consumer products SD CCC Distressed exchange
4/26/2021 Confidential Confidential High technology SD CCC+ Confidential
4/27/2021

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

Mexico Telecommunications D CCC- Missed interest payments
4/28/2021

Future Retail Ltd.

India Retail/restaurants SD CCC- Distressed exchange
4/28/2021 Confidential Confidential Consumer products SD CCC- Confidential
4/30/2021

Codere S.A.

Spain Media and entertainment SD CC Distressed exchange
5/3/2021 Confidential Confidential Transportation D CC Confidential
5/10/2021

gategroup Holding AG

Switzerland Transportation SD CCC Distressed exchange
5/10/2021

Voyager Aviation Holdings LLC

U.S. Transportation SD CC Distressed exchange
5/14/2021

CDRH Parent Inc.,

U.S. Health care D CC Distressed exchange
5/19/2021

Boart Longyear Ltd.

Australia Metals, mining, and steel D CC Bankruptcy
5/25/2021 Confidential Confidential Homebuilders/real estate companies D CCC- Confidential
6/3/2021 Peabody Energy Corp. (B) U.S. Metals, mining, and steel SD CCC+ Distressed exchange
NR--Not rated. SD--Selective default. Data as of June 16, 2021. (B) designation indicates the issuer's 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. 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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