The root causes of growing credit stress remain firmly in place despite investors’ relatively benign response to structural shifts, leaving a mixed but increasingly negative outlook for corporate credit through the rest of 2026, says Scope Ratings.

Wednesday, 11 February 2026

JD.com’s arrival in European consumer goods retail sets an important precedent for the sector and represents a further shift in commercial spheres of influence in the region.

The proposed new methodology lays out Scope’s analytical approach for telecommunication companies. The methodology as proposed is expected to have no rating impact on outstanding ratings if implemented as proposed.

BP’s appointment of Meg O’Neill, the CEO of Woodside Energy, as the first woman and the first outsider to head the integrated oil and gas company (IOC), completes the reset of top management and strategy.

Norway’s power utilities are facing rising capex demands against a constant call on cash to pay dividends to municipal owners. This is creating a cash squeeze on utilities in the north of the country.

The European retail sector, particularly in food and electronics, continues to face a challenging operating environment shaped by shifting consumer behaviour, rising cost pressures and investment-heavy structural transformation, says Scope Ratings.

Europe’s telecoms operators are on course to reduce leverage to the lowest level in a decade as the capex cycle continues to turn down over the next two years, assuming no major outlays on M&A and technology.

The buzz around private credit since First Brands’ bankruptcy shows that investors need to be alert to the risks of engaging with this market. But it is also important not to exaggerate the credit risks or rate of growth of this market.

The recent collapse of First Brands, in casting a shadow over the direct-lending sector in the US, raises important questions: does the rapid growth in private credit amplify corporate credit risk and will this be different in Europe compared with the US?