U.S. companies are so far unfazed by inflation and rising borrowing costs as they enter 2022 well positioned to repay their debts, according to a new analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The median interest coverage ratio — a measure of a company’s ability to repay its debts calculated by dividing earnings before interest and taxes by the cost of its debt-interest payments — for nonfinancial companies rated investment-grade by S&P Global Ratings was 8.0 in the third quarter of 2021. While this was down from 8.4 in the second quarter of 2021, the ratio remains higher than the pre-pandemic level of 6.0, according to data published by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Business has benefited from cheap borrowing and a resurgence in earnings during the sharp recovery of the U.S. economy. However, that could change as inflation eats into profit margins while the cost of debt increases, the report noted.