根据穆迪评级的报告，美国私人债务市场的借款人正通过延迟利息支付和到期日延期来规避违约，这可能掩盖了信贷压力的整体规模。
Borrowers in the US private debt market are using delayed interest payments and maturity extensions to avoid default, potentially masking the overall extent of credit stress, according to Moody’s Ratings.
穆迪对607家私人信贷借款人进行评估后发现，截至6月的12个月内，其违约率为4%。当将困境发行人的实物付息（PIK）修正案和到期日延期纳入考量时，该比例升至5.8%。穆迪认为，此类工具属于困境置换，因此等同于违约。
The default rate among 607 private credit borrowers assessed by Moody’s stood at 4% in the 12 months to June. That figure rose to 5.8% when payment-in-kind amendments and maturity extensions among distressed issuers were taken into account, the firm wrote in a report. The rating agency views such tools as distressed exchanges and therefore equivalent to defaults.
实物付息（PIK）是指借款人通过将利息计入本金而推迟支付利息的安排。在贷款期限内采用此方式以释放现金用于运营时，也会在长期内加剧公司的债务负担。
Payment-in-kind, or PIK, are arrangements that allow borrowers to delay interest by tacking it onto principal due. When added during the life of a loan to free up cash for operations, they also compound a company’s debt over the long term.
该报告指出，贷款人修改贷款和推迟现金利息支付的能力可能掩盖私人信贷领域压力的真实程度。与此同时，借款人正面临利率上升的压力，而通胀、贸易中断以及人工智能过时的威胁正在侵蚀其收益。
The findings highlight how lenders’ ability to amend loans and defer cash interest payments can obscure the extent of stress in private credit. That comes as borrowers contend with rising rates at a time when inflation, trade disruptions and the threat of AI obsolescence are eroding earnings.
随着借款人临近到期债务“高墙”，这种压力可能进一步加剧。在穆迪的样本中，评级较低的发行人占2027年和2028年到期债务的一半以上，这意味着许多最脆弱的借款人只能依赖展期、PIK修正、高成本再融资或私募股权赞助方的额外支持。
The pressure risks intensifying as borrowers approach a wall of debt maturities. In the Moody’s sample, lower rated issuers account for more than half of maturities due in both 2027 and 2028, leaving many of the weakest borrowers dependent on extensions, PIK amendments, expensive refinancing or additional support from their private-equity sponsors.
报告还称，根据这607家借款人的最新财务报表，17%的公司正在使用PIK利息，即将利息计入未偿还债务而非以现金支付。
Recent financial statements for the 607 borrowers also showed that 17% were using PIK interest, which allows companies to add interest to their outstanding debt rather than pay it in cash, according to the report.
无论PIK是否自贷款 inception 起可用，借款人均表现出类似的财务压力迹象。报告显示，这些公司面临流动性紧张、自由现金流为负以及杠杆率高企的问题，而利息覆盖率则徘徊在盈亏平衡水平附近。
Borrowers showed similar signs of financial strain regardless of whether PIK was available from the outset of the loan or introduced later. The companies grappled with weak liquidity, negative free cash flow and high leverage, while interest coverage hovered around break-even levels, the report showed.
在使用PIK的借款人中，业务服务公司流动性薄弱的集中度最高，而软件公司整体信用指标最弱。
Among borrowers using PIK, business-services companies had the highest concentration of weak liquidity, while software companies had the weakest credit metrics overall.
然而，个别借款人的压力尚未转化为持有大部分债务的中型市场抵押贷款凭证的显著恶化。穆迪表示，投资组合管理、抵押品测试以及更强的结构性保护迄今为止一直帮助CLO投资者抵御借款人信用质量的削弱。
Still, stress among individual borrowers has yet to translate into significant deterioration in the middle-market collateralized loan obligations that hold much of the debt. Moody’s said portfolio management, collateral tests and stronger structural protections have so far helped insulate CLO investors from weakening borrower credit quality.