Fallen angels mark pushed to 66 issuers thus far in 2009, S&P says

By Jennifer Chiou

New York, Sept. 17 - Standard & Poor's said in a report that the number of fallen angels recorded in 2009 rose by four over the past month, augmenting the year-to-date tally to 66 issuers.

The affecting debt amounts to $223.06 billion.

By debt volume, the current fallen angel tally nearly matches that of the $226.42 billion in all of 2008, the agency added.

"By count, finance companies lead 2009's fallen angels to date with 12 entities, followed by banks with nine entities and utilities with eight," Diane Vazza, head of the S&P global fixed-income research group, said in the report.

Sectors poised to lead fallen angel incidence are banks with 15 issuers, followed by consumer products with nine issuers and metals, mining and steel with seven issuers.

The global potential fallen angel count - issuers poised to cross over from investment-grade territory to speculative-grade territory - decreased by one issuer to 75.

According to S&P, these companies are rated BBB- and have either a negative outlook or ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications, with a total of $249.46 billion of rated debt.

Over the long term, fallen angel activity mirrors the broader movement in credit quality, S&P previously noted.

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