Europe’s ‘Zombie’ Borrowers Besieged by Spread of Coronavirus

  • Highly-indebted firms more vulnerable to impact of Covid-19
  • European default risk highest in transport, telecom, cyclicals

The nurses on board the high bio-containment ambulance to the emergency room of the Cotugno hospital in Naples,

Photographer: Kontrolab/LightRocket via Getty Images
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Europe’s so-called ‘zombies’ -- heavily indebted and poorly performing companies that have staggered on for years feasting on cheap credit -- may have finally met their match in the coronavirus.