Global corporate defaults doubled from March to April, S&P finds

By Matt Tracy

May 15 (Reuters) - Global corporate debt defaults more than doubled in April from March to their highest monthly tally since October 2020, according to a report from S&P Global Ratings.

April saw 18 defaults globally, led by the 10 U.S. defaults worth $7.1 billion, according to the S&P report published on Monday. These include the bankruptcies of IT provider ConvergeOne Holdings and fashion retailer Express Inc .

"Looming maturities, strained operations, and elevated refinancing costs were among the main reasons for the increase in bankruptcies," the report said.

In the U.S., 56% of April's total publicly rated defaults came from bankruptcies, while the remainder came from distressed exchanges.

However, distressed exchanges have been the primary driver of defaults globally this year, S&P noted. They accounted for 44% of defaults in April and 51% of defaults year-to-date, leading to 28 companies' defaults.

While the number of global defaults more than doubled from March to April, the volume of debt nearly halved from $16.3 billion to $8.6 billion, according to S&P.

Companies in the consumer products and media and entertainment sectors led the default tally in April. Both sectors have accounted for the most defaults year-to-date.

Though the U.S. led the world in the number of defaults year-to-date, Europe's year-to-date default tally of 15 is at the region's highest level since 2008, S&P noted. (Reporting by Matt Tracy; editing by Jonathan Oatis)