May 15 (Reuters) - Global corporate debt defaults more

than doubled in April from March to their highest monthly tally

since October 2020, according to a report from S&P Global

Ratings.

April saw 18 defaults globally, led by the 10 U.S. defaults

worth $7.1 billion, according to the S&P report published on

Monday. These include the bankruptcies of IT provider

ConvergeOne Holdings and fashion retailer Express Inc ( EXPRQ )

.

"Looming maturities, strained operations, and elevated

refinancing costs were among the main reasons for the increase

in bankruptcies," the report said.

In the U.S., 56% of April's total publicly rated defaults

came from bankruptcies, while the remainder came from distressed

exchanges.

However, distressed exchanges have been the primary driver

of defaults globally this year, S&P noted. They accounted for

44% of defaults in April and 51% of defaults year-to-date,

leading to 28 companies' defaults.

While the number of global defaults more than doubled from

March to April, the volume of debt nearly halved from $16.3

billion to $8.6 billion, according to S&P.

Companies in the consumer products and media and

entertainment sectors led the default tally in April. Both

sectors have accounted for the most defaults year-to-date.

Though the U.S. led the world in the number of defaults

year-to-date, Europe's year-to-date default tally of 15 is at

the region's highest level since 2008, S&P noted.