The pace and intensity of ratings actions in Europe, the Middle East and Asia will slow in the second half as improving economic conditions support corporate creditworthiness, according to Fitch Ratings.

While there will still be more downgrades than upgrades during the remainder of 2009, “corporate rating actions may nonetheless have passed their peak of intensity,” Fitch said in an e-mailed report on Thursday.

“The majority of companies remain profitable, and company results for 2009 so far are coming in broadly in line with those levels forecast,” Fitch analysts led by London-based Richard Hunter said in the report.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development raised its growth outlook for the first time in two years on June 24, saying the world’s 30 most industrialized economies will shrink 4.1 percent this year, less than the 4.3 percent it forecast in March. Credit-default swap benchmarks have declined as confidence recovers from the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which caused bond investors to price in higher default rates than were recorded in the Great Depression.

Share sales to raise capital and government intervention to support banking systems, which have made it easier for companies to access external funding, are helping to boost companies’ creditworthiness, Fitch said.

Fitch’s rating actions in the first half were intensified by a number of “double-dippers,” or companies that are downgraded and have their revised ratings put on negative outlook or watch, indicating another downgrade is likely. These companies included Germany’s HeidelbergCement AG, French car maker Renault SA and Hong Kong telecoms provider PCCW-HKT Telephone Ltd.

European issuers sold $1.7 trillion of bonds in the first half, a 31 percent increase compared with the same period of 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The surge in investment-grade sales in Europe “has some hallmarks of a bubble,” Fitch said. “Any tail-off in this booming issuance, while it will doubtless attract headlines and impact sentiment, does not represent an additional threat to current rating levels,” it said.  (Bloomberg)