Fitch: Public Finance Upgrades Outpaced Downgrades in 2Q16

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- U.S. public finance upgrades exceeded downgrades in 2Q16 on 83 upgrades versus 43 downgrades, according to a Fitch Ratings report.

"Roughly 60 percent of the par value of downgrades this quarter were entities related to Puerto Rico, followed by another 25 percent related to the downgrade of the State of Connecticut," said Jessalynn Moro, Managing Director of the U.S. public finance group.

Downgrades in the second quarter represented 4.9 percent of all rating actions, while upgrade were 9.5 percent of all rating actions.

Positive and Negative Rating Outlooks continue to converge. Positive Rating Outlooks increased in 2Q16 to 114 from 10 in 2Q15, while Negative Rating Outlooks decreased to 118 in 2Q16 from 136 in 2Q15.

Negative Rating Watches increased to 22 in 2Q16 from 21 in 1Q16, and Positive Rating Watches stayed stable at one.

Seventy-eight percent of rating actions were affirmations, with Stable Rating Outlooks remaining nearly the same at 93 percent compared with 92 percent in 1Q16.

Based on the present distribution of Rating Outlooks and Rating Watches, Fitch Ratings expects affirmations to continue to dominate most of U.S. public finance activity.

For more information, a special report titled "U.S. Public Finance Annual Rating Actions Second-Quarter 2016" is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

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U.S. Public Finance Rating Actions Second-Quarter 2016

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=884476

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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160728006041/en/

Fitch Ratings
Jessalynn Moro
Managing Director
+1-212-908-0698
Fitch Ratings, Inc.
33 Whitehall St.
New York, NY 10004
or
Rachel Grossman
Associate Analyst
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or
Media Relations:
Elizabeth Fogerty, +1-212-908-0526
[email protected]

Source: Fitch Ratings

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