2020-04-01 Bloomberg Markets Magazine

Industry Focus

Communication services

$105.0b

Ƽ220%

Cons. staples

$17.3b

Ƽ161%

Information technology

$5 9 .6b

Ƽ345%

Energy

$ 2 55.1b

Ƽ181%

Utilities

$8. 2 b

Ƽ39%

By SHANNON HARRINGTON
With SALLY BAKEWELL, CLAIRE BOSTON, KELSEY BUTLER, ANIK CHATTOPADHYAY, JAMES CROMBIE, and LISA LEE

A Grim Credit

Landscape

Par value of distressed

bonds and loans of

companies in the

Americas, by sector

March 6 March 24

An Explosion of

Tr o u b l e d A s s e t s

As the coronavirus began to

spread around the world,

entire industries ground to a

standstill, leaving the survival

of many businesses in

question. In the U.S., which

has the world’s largest credit

market, hundreds of billions

of dollars of corporate debt

that once seemed relatively

safe fell into distress in a

matter of days.

Sector

Distressed debt on March 24

Change from March 6

Media

conglomerate

Univision

Communications

added

$7.3b

in distressed

debt

As the value of

crude oil

plummeted,

nearly

$70b

of pipeline

debt became

distressed

Debt issued by

utilities

avoided falling

into distress

more than

debt in other

industries

52 BLOOMBERG MARKETS