patterns / distressed_valuable

credit thesis

Distressed but valuable

in the Altman distress zone yet carrying real fixed assets — the company survives on its asset base (0.6× the failure rate): an asset-based lending / rescue-finance target, not a walk-away

the signature — what the register must show
staff ≥5
Altman Z'' < 1.1 (distress zone)
fixed assets ≥ £500k OR land & buildings ≥ £250k

Why it matters

In the distress zone by the numbers, yet sitting on real tangible assets — and the assets are exactly why it does NOT fail (0.6× the base failure rate: the collateral carries it through). The textbook asset-based-lending situation.

The play

Private-credit / rescue origination: lend against the assets to refinance the distress, or an asset-purchase play if it does tip over. The one distress pattern where the downside is protected.

How it's kept honest

The badge is recomputed nightly across the whole index, and re-evaluated live the moment a company files — so a match is always a statement about the current register, not a stale list. Like every signal on the radar: a prompt to look closer, never a verdict.