In a new report, S&P’s Capital IQ Global Markets Intelligence group takes a look at the rising cash hoards held by US companies.
Among quarterly results posted by 68 of the 419 nonfinancial S&P 500 companies, total cash and short-term investments on the balance sheet at year-end 2011 totaled $440.4 billion, up 23.7% from those same companies’ collective year-end 2010 total of $356.1 billion, according to S&P Capital IQ data.
Among companies reporting financial results so far this season, the 10 companies with the largest holdings include General Electric Co., with $131.9 billion on its balance sheet at the close of 2011, followed by Microsoft Corp. ($50.7 billion) and Google Inc. ($44.6 billion). Of the top 10, Intel Corp. was the only company to experience a drop in its year-end 2011 total from year-end 2010, after the company reported $14.8 billon for year-end 2011, off 32.2% from the prior-year period.
Although less than one-quarter of the 71 companies in the information technology sector have reported results, the sector currently ranks first in terms of cash holdings, with more than $181.3 billion, representing a 13.4% increase from those same reporting companies’ cash totals for year-end 2010.
(The report was prepared before Apple Inc. reported cash on hand of $97.6 billion, up 20% over the last quarter and more than double the year earlier level.)
For details see Cross-Market Commentary: An Early Look At Corporate Cash Holdings
Technorati Tags: Apple, cash, cash holdings, General Electric, Google, intel, Microsoft
Fitch Ratings expects 2012 to be a year of significant retrenchment for the largest European airlines, as a poor demand environment and persistent cost pressures threaten to drive operating losses higher.
This month’s roll out of a major cost and capacity restructuring plan by Air France-KLM may signal broader industry rationalization later in [...]
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The ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe, coupled with a weak economic outlook for the U.S., means growth in two important markets for European business services companies will likely be lackluster in 2012, according to a report published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.
A new Industry Report Card Why European Business Services Companies Should Hold [...]
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Several trends are currently weakening the credit profiles of many rated banks globally, according to Moody’s.
These trends include:
(i) deteriorating sovereign creditworthiness, particularly in the euro area;
(ii) elevated economic uncertainty; and
(iii) elevated funding spreads and reduced market access at a time when many banks face large debt maturities.
In advanced economies, these factors [...]
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Fitch Ratings has updated how it derives its Fitch Core Capital measure used to assess a bank’s capitalization.
In calculating FCC the agency’s objective is to arrive at a figure, comparable across countries, measuring a bank’s highest-quality, “going-concern” capital. FCC is broadly similar both to Basel III’s Common Equity Tier 1 measure [...]
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Uncertainties about sovereign debt as well as scarce and expensive debt financing could drive the European corporate default rate above 6% or even higher over the coming quarters, says Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.
Standard & Poor’s base-case European speculative-grade default forecast of
6.1% for the full year would equate to 41 rated companies defaulting by the [...]
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Developing countries should prepare for further downside risks, as Euro Area debt problems and weakening growth in several big emerging economies are dimming global growth prospects, says the World Bank in the newly-released Global Economic Prospects (GEP) 2012.
The Bank has lowered its growth forecast for 2012 to 5.4 percent for developing [...]
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Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services expects the current positive rating change bias in the global technology sector to continue to moderate, reflecting the ongoing slowdown in IT spending which began in the second half of last year, a weak global economy and ongoing M&A activity.
Our expectation for global 2012 IT spending [...]
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Most covered bond investors intend to increase their holdings, despite growing concerns over sovereign debt risk, according to a new survey from Fitch Ratings.
One year on from its previous investor survey, Fitch says that sovereign risk still constitutes the main challenge facing the covered bonds market, according to 59% of covered bond investors [...]
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Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued an FAQ explaining its downgrades of nine eurozone sovereigns and affirmations of the ratings of seven others.
S&P lowered the long-term ratings on Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, and Spain by two notches; lowered the long-term ratings on Austria, France, Malta, the
Slovak Republic, and Slovenia, by one notch; and affirmed the [...]
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