Fitch's rating
Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available onthe agency's public site, Published ratings, criteria andmethodologies are available from this site, at all times. The report is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at under 'Credit Market Research'. Corporate Bond Market: A Review of First-Quarter2009 Rating and Issuance Activity', offers additional details on issuancepatterns, rating activity by broad market sector and industry, and bonds comingdue. The first quarter of 2009 also saw another unwelcome milestone as the share ofU.S. corporate bonds rated 'AAA' fell below 1% of market volume while the shareof 'CCC' rated issues moved up again to a new high of 6.8%. In total, the 'AAA'category saw $176.2 billion in downgrades while the 'AA' category featured anadditional $142.1 billion. Overall, downgrades affected 14.5% ($426.4 billion) of investment grade U.S.bond market volume in the first quarter while upgrades affected 0.3% ($9.1billion).
On the speculative grade front, the effects of negative and positivechanges were 14.8% ($96 billion) and 1.7% ($10.8 billion), respectively. A positive development in the first quarter was a strong rebound in issuance,tallying $184.9 billion following dismal third- and fourth-quarter 2008 activityof just $80.8 billion and $74.4 billion, respectively. While an impressiveturnaround, this strength came from highly rated, defensive industrial names.Financial and speculative grade issuance remained very low The new report, titled 'U.S. ($1=$1.17 Canadian) (Reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; editing by Rob Wilson) Stocks Mergers & Acquisitions Bonds Global Markets Media. NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--The par value of U.S. corporate bonds affected by downgrades hit a high of$522.4 billion in the first quarter (up from $391.5 billion in the fourthquarter of 2008), resulting in a downgrade rate of 14.5%, as the financial andeconomic crisis continued to take a toll on corporate credit quality, accordingto a new Fitch report. Donnelley & Sons RRD.N said it wasready to offer Quebecor World's debtors about $1.35 billion incash and stock for the company's assets.
CABLE HELPS RESULTS Quebecor's adjusted income from continuing operations roseto C$43.1 million, or 67 Canadian cents a share, in the firstquarter. That was up from C$34.6 million, or 54 Canadian centsa share, a year earlier. The Montreal-based company's revenue rose 2.2 percent toC$896.2 million. dollars unless noted) TORONTO, May 13 (Reuters) - Media and telecom groupQuebecor Inc (QBRa.TO) (QBRb.TO) posted a lower quarterlyprofit on Wednesday because of a large one-time gain a yearearlier, but said its strong cable business is helping itweather the recession.
Its class B shares rose C$1.11, or 6 percent, to C$19.45 onthe Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning. "The cable segment, which continues to register customergrowth for all of its services quarter after quarter, accountsfor the bulk of the improvement in results," Chief ExecutivePierre Karl Peladeau said in a statement. The company said operating income at the cable unit jumped13.7 percent. Before the filing, Quebecor held 35.5 percent of QuebecorWorld's equity and controlled 84.5 percent of its votes Late on Tuesday, R.R.
That was down from a profit of C$428.4 million, or C$6.66 ashare, a year earlier. However, in the year-ago quarter,Quebecor recorded a one-time gain of C$399.7 million fromdeconsolidating the results of insolvent commercial printerQuebecor World IQW.TO. The deconsolidation -- which essentially means Quebecortreats Quebecor World as "discontinued operations" on its books-- took place after Quebecor World filed for bankruptcyprotection in January 2008. * First-quarter EPS C$0.90 vs EPS C$6.66 Stocks | Mergers & Acquisitions | Bonds | Global Markets | Media * Net results skewed by big gain a year ago * Cable unit helps lift results (In U.S.