The list of U.S. retailers with troubled financials that could make them potential bankruptcy risks, now totals 22, according to Moody's Investors Service — topping the 19 recorded at the peak of the Great Recession, USA Today reported today. Confronting a major shift to online shopping Sears Holdings, Neiman Marcus Group and others on the list face a "perfect storm," senior Moody's retail analyst Charles O'Shea said yesterday. The ranks of distressed firms and retail sector defaults are likely to grow during the next 12 to 18 months, the ratings agency predicted in a separate report issued on Wednesday. Nonetheless, the companies on the distressed list represent just 16% of the retailers analyzed by Moody's. "The majority of retailers remain fundamentally healthy," O'Shea said in a statement issued with the report.
