S&P: 17 percent of global corporates on credit watch

The number of negative outlooks for global corporations has exceeded the number of positive outlooks by the widest margin since the depths of the global financial crisis, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor’s. “This outlook distribution suggests that negative ratings actions are likely to continue to outnumber positive ones over the coming 12 months. It also suggests that downgrades may significantly outnumber upgrades during 2015,” says Terrence Chan, Managing Director of credit research at S&P. The net outlook bias for global corporations currently sits at negative 11 percent after slumping 4 percentage points in the last six months -- the worst half-year change since the 2008 to 2009 financial crisis rocked global markets. S&P calculates the bias by balancing the number of positive and negative credit watches or outlooks. At the end of last year, 17 percent of global corporate issuers were on negative credit watch, outnumbering the 6 per cent on positive credit watch by a ratio of 3 to 1, the agency said. For the original story (VIEW LINK).