Spec grade defaults to hit Eu25bn in 2009, says S&P

Standard & Poor’s is predicting a ten-fold increase in the number of speculative grade defaults next year, estimating that 60-75 European firms will default on debt of up to Eu25bn in the next year. It thinks a similar amount of defaults will occur in 2010 and that by the end of that year over 20% of speculative grade issuers could have defaulted. Read Euroweek this week to find out how lenders are preparing themselves for the deluge.