February 12, 2024
Senior European Restructuring partner and Co-Head of Weil’s London Restructuring practice Andrew Wilkinson joined CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on February 5 to discuss the latest Weil European Distress Index and the evolving state of corporate distress in Europe.
“In the last 18 months, [corporate distress] has been steadily rising,” Andrew explained. “Corporate distress across Europe is significantly higher than average, at about half of what it got to at the pandemic, nowhere near what we saw at the time of the financial crisis.”
Andrew was also asked about the index’s methodology and the current environment’s short- versus long-term impacts for governments and corporations.
“What we are highlighting is that, as companies face that increased cost of debt, it is putting strains on their balance sheets across Europe and resulting in increased signs of distress,” Andrew added. “There is no doubt that, as we go through this transition to a world of higher interest rates, there will be increased defaults and increased restructurings.”
The latest Weil European Distress Index, which analyzed data from more than 3,750 listed corporates and financial market indicators, found Germany to be the most distressed market in Europe currently. Meanwhile, there was a slight easing of corporate distress in the U.K. The complete report is available here.
To watch Andrew’s full interview, please visit CNBC.
