OREANDA-NEWS. Recent technical and financial issues have widened credit default swap (CDS) spreads on Neiman Marcus Group LLC to levels not seen since 2013, according to Fitch Solutions in its latest CDS case study snapshot.

Five-year CDS on Neiman Marcus widened 45% over the past week and are 92% wider since the start of December. Credit protection on Neiman Marcus' debt is now pricing deeper in speculative grade ('BB-') territory.

'Souring market sentiment for Neiman Marcus is likely attributed to declining sales exacerbated by a technical hiccup over the Thanksgiving shopping weekend,' said Director Diana Allmendinger. 'Disappointing quarterly results released this past Monday appear to have added to market concerns over Neiman's credit prospects.'

Fitch Solutions case studies build on data from its CDS Pricing Service and proprietary quantitative models, including CDS Implied Ratings. These credit risk indicators are designed to provide real-time, market-based views of creditworthiness. As such, they can and often do reflect more short term market views on factors such as currencies, seasonal market effects and short-term technical influences. This is in contrast to Fitch Ratings' Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs), which are based on forward-looking fundamental credit analysis over an extended period of time.