The number of European risky credits, issuers rated ‘CCC+’ and lower, has marginally declined and is now in line with the five-year average. Most removals from this group reflected defaults and rating withdrawals. New additions were mostly due to refinancing. European risky credits’ outstanding debt increased by 45% to €80.1 billion, from €55.1 billion at the start of 2024, primarily due to the downgrade of French telecoms company Altice France S.A. to ‘CCC+’. Altice France added close to €23.8 billion to risky credits’ total debt. Three telecoms companies contributed about €25.8 billion. The next largest contributors came from chemicals, packaging, environmental services, and oil and gas.