S&P tally shows rising stars outpacing fallen angels 25 to 16

By Susanna Moon

Chicago, Nov. 18 - Standard & Poor's said it downgraded two more issuers to speculative grade in August, bringing the total number of fallen angels worldwide this year to 16 with $398.83 billion in rated debt.

In comparison, the agency recorded 25 rising stars so far this year with rated debt worth $60.77 billion. Rising stars are issuers upgraded to investment grade.

Since the agency's last report, the number of potential fallen angels fell by one to 54 issuers, with a total of $258.59 billion in rated debt.

S&P said it removed five issuers from the list of potential fallen angels and added four.

"We believe that the sectors poised to lead fallen angel incidence are banks with nine issuers, followed by transportation and consumer products with six entities each," Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's global fixed-income research, said in a statement.

Greece-based financial services provider Alpha Bank A.E. remains this year's largest fallen angel by debt volume, with $29.22 billion in rated debt. The Republic of Hungary remains the largest potential fallen angel this month, with $55.61 billion in rated debt.

Potential fallen angels are issuers rated BBB- with either a negative outlook or ratings on CreditWatch negative. Potential rising stars are issuers rated BB+ with either a positive outlook or ratings on CreditWatch with positive implications.

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