2024 Corporate Credit Outlook

Consumer behavior in response to a challenging macroeconomic backdrop is expected to vary across the spectrum of consumer products companies. This session will explore how changing consumer behavior will affect the operating performance and capital allocation of companies in this sector, and consequently the impact on their credit risk profiles. It will be followed by a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

This session will provide an overview of our outlook for the telecommunications sector, which acknowledges economic headwinds, but also highlights resiliency of the sector. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

This session will explore how the latest consumer trends and ongoing macro-economic challenges are affecting different types of retailers as well as restaurants in terms of operating performances, capital allocation practices and consequently their credit risk profiles. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

Despite a weak macroeconomic environment, the transportation industry should be relatively resilient in 2024. Airline sector growth should normalize in 2024 as the industry achieves full recovery to pre-pandemic levels. That said, potential headwinds that could impact the sector include a significant economic downturn and geopolitical tension escalations.

On the railway front, railroads should push for price and productivity increases to compensate for the volume weakness. However, volumes may rebound by the second half of 2024, especially in rate sensitive sectors, as interest rate cuts start to materialize. Any volume rebound in conjunction with price actions and productivity improvements should help with the margins.

We will follow with a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

This session will provide an outlook for autos, capital goods, construction, property development and semi-conductors amidst a year that is characterized by high interest rates and continued economic headwinds. We will review factors that may influence performance of these individual sectors, touching on demand, spending and cost management, opportunities and new industry trends. We will follow with a Q&A for all who wish to participate.