OREANDA-NEWS.  Fitch Ratings has published the November edition of its SME CLO Compare, which tracks the performance of all SME CLO transactions monitored by Fitch based on their investor reports. The report is updated on a monthly basis.

European SME CLO performance was stable in October. Average 90- day delinquencies in Spain have continued to decline from 2.11% in August to 2.0% in September. 90-day arrears in Italy have in comparison remained stable at 2.0%.

Fitch affirmed two SME CLO transactions and assigned final ratings to one new deal. Esmee Master Issuer Series 2009-1's single rated tranche was affirmed at 'AAAsf' reflecting the transaction's stable performance since it was restructured in October 2013. PYME Valencia 1's six rated tranches were affirmed on 27 October 2015, reflecting high levels of credit enhancement and a reduction in 90+ arrears reflecting the trend in Spanish SME CLOs as a whole.

On 2 October Fitch published its annual European SME CLO Performance Tracker. In the report delinquencies can be seen to have fallen across all jurisdictions covered in Fitch's Edwin index reflecting the more stable performances of the underlying economies. Upgrades have outpaced downgrades over the last 12 months but issuance volumes are still limited. SME CLO loan issuance has remained hampered by sluggish growth prospects, a lack of economic viability and unfavorable regulatory treatment for securitisations.

Also on 2 October Fitch published the EMEA SME Securitisation Update. Fitch says in the report that the performance of Spanish SME's operating in the real estate sector is improving and arrears in post-crisis securitised portfolios are trending to low levels. This is part of a declining trend in loan delinquencies across all sectors in Spain indicating a broad-based recovery, based on performance data sourced from the European Data Warehouse.

On 14 October, Fitch published a special report: "Spanish Repossession Analysis 2015". This stated that the gradual recovery seen in the Spanish residential property market has had limited, if any, effect on distressed properties subject to foreclosure, a situation Fitch expects will persist.

On 30 October Fitch assigned final ratings to Claris SME 2015 S.r.l. The transaction is a granular cash flow securitisation of a EUR1,953m static pool of mortgage and non-mortgage loans granted to small and medium-sized enterprises located in Italy. The underlying loans were originated by Veneto Banca S.c.p.a. and its subsidiary, bancApulia S.p.A. The senior tranche (EUR1,270m) was rated at the Republic of Italy's country ceiling at 'AAsf'.