U.K. Firms’ Finances Worsening, Internal Bank Data Shows

(Bloomberg) -- The financial health of Britain’s companies is deteriorating toward a point where their debt risks being classed as junk, according to a measure of distress aggregated from data provided by the largest U.S. and U.K. banks. Declining U.K. corporate creditworthiness can largely be blamed on the woes of retailers and technology services, according to Credit Benchmark, which provided the research. In contrast, corporations are getting stronger in the U.S. where economic growth reached around 2.9 percent last year.

--With assistance from Hayley Warren.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Beardsworth in London at tbeardsworth@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vivianne Rodrigues at vrodrigues3@bloomberg.net, Chris Vellacott

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