Credit default swaps are basically insurance against defaults. What the 934 means is that to insure bonds worth 10 million dollars, people are paying 9.34%, or 934,000 dollars. Typically when the CDS trades at high levels it indicates either highly illiquid markets, or that people are losing trust in the company (or a higher expectancy of default). This doesn't mean ICICI will default, just that it's CDS is trading at such levels (even Lehman's were trading at 700 bps a few months prior to their bankruptcy - at a time when 700 was considered obscenely high. Today, 900 is perhaps less dramatic)
Interestingly, they've come down 300 basis points from two weeks ago - when the spread was over 12%! Let's see - if it comes down to less than 300 that means things are getting better.
Disclosure: No positions. And this is just info - not to suggest ICICI is defaulting, going bust or anything of that sort.
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