Prospect News and S&P each mark three new defaults for Jan. 26-Feb. 1

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Feb. 3 - Prospect News reported three new defaults for the week of Jan. 26 to Feb. 1.

Specifically, Prospect News reported Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings made by United Retail Group, Inc. and Ener1, Inc., as well as Petroplus Holdings AG's reorganization.

Prospect News also reported a distressed exchange made by Aquilex Holdings LLC. Aquilex had previously defaulted when it missed a Dec. 15 interest payment.

Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's also recorded three new defaults for the week, bringing its year-to-date total to 12. The agency said this is six times the total seen for the same period of 2011.

S&P said its latest defaulters were Republic Mortgage Insurance Co., which saw its ratings lowered to R after the North Carolina Department of Insurance placed it under supervision, and China Medical Technologies, Inc., which failed to make an interest payment on its $150 million convertible bond due 2016.

The third S&P default this week came from a confidentially rated Israeli retail and restaurant company.

So far this year, S&P said missed interest payments accounted for three defaults, another three defaulted issuers were confidential, and bankruptcy filings and distressed exchanges have accounted for two defaults each.

Of the remaining defaults, the agency one resulted from a notice of acceleration by the issuer's lender and the other stemmed from a company being placed under regulatory supervision.

In 2011, 21 issuers defaulted because of missed interest or principal payments, 13 because of bankruptcy filings and 11 because of distressed exchanges, S&P reported.

In addition, two issuers failed to finalize refinancing on bank loans, another two were subject to regulatory action, one had its banking license revoked by its country's central bank, another was appointed a receiver, and two were confidential.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.