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To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (10823)	7/25/2002 4:46:24 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Respond to of 17639

biz.yahoo.com Thursday July 25, 4:39 pm Eastern Time Reuters Company News Euro junk bond default rate soars to 21 pct-Fitch NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - The default rate for European junk bonds has soared to an annualized 20.9 percent, an unprecedented rate of decay that resulted largely from the speed with which new cable and telecommunications bonds have blown up, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT Fitch said 19 companies defaulted on $12 billion of European junk bonds between January and June, compared with 18 companies defaulting on $4.2 billion in all of 2001. The default rate for U.S. junk bonds is 9.5 percent, Fitch said. Among the largest defaulters in 2002 were Energis Plc (London:EGS.L - News), Netia Holdings Inc., NTL Inc. (OTC BB:NTLD.OB - News) and United Pan-Europe Communications NV (Amsterdam:UPEC.AS - News). Ninety-five percent of the default volume, or $11.4 billion, came from cable and telecom companies. "The crisis engulfing telecom and cable will continue to produce more defaults through the end of the year," Fitch said. The first half annualized default rate for other European junk bonds was 2.4 percent, Fitch said. Demand for many junk, or high-yield, bonds has dried up this year following a rash of corporate accounting scandals and bankruptcies and a precipitous decline in equity prices. Junk bonds are rated "BB-plus" or lower by Fitch and Standard & Poor's, and "Ba1" or lower by Moody's Investors Service.