: U.S. corporate default tally rises to 55 to exceed the 36 recorded in all of 2022

The tally of U.S. corporate defaults has climbed to 55 in the year to date to exceed all of 2022’s count of 36, Moody’s Investors Service said Tuesday. “Defaults last month sent the global speculative-grade default rate to 3.8% for the 12-month period ended in June, up from 3.6% at the end of May,” said Sharon Ou, a Moody’s vice president, adding: “We forecast the rate to trend higher over the remainder of 2023, finishing at 4.7% in December. In 2024, we expect the rate to peak at 5.1% in March before easing to 4.6% in June.” Distressed exchanges were the most common type of default in June, accounting for eight of 13 defaults, including that of Apollo Global Management-backed Shutterfly LLC. In all, there were 57 defaults in North America, including two in Canada, the most of any region.

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