Nearly as many companies globally defaulted on their debt repayments in the first half of this year as defaulted during the whole of 2000, according to comments from Standard & Poor's, the international rating agency.

Some 101 companies worldwide failed to make payments on nearly $58bn (€67.95bn) worth of debt obligations, according to S&P, which said the figure compares with a total of 117 corporate debt defaults during last year.