A.M. Best Affirms Financial Strength and Debt Ratings of State Auto Insurance Companies; Assigns Issuer Credit Rating and Upgrades Rating of Two Meridian Companies.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed af·firm v. af·firmed, af·firm·ing, af·firms v.tr. 1. To declare positively or firmly; maintain to be true. 2. To support or uphold the validity of; confirm. v.intr. the financial strength ratings of A+ (Superior) of State Auto Insurance Companies (State Auto) (Columbus, OH) and assigned it an issuer credit rating (ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition or Image Character Recognition) The machine recognition of hand-printed characters as well as machine printing that is difficult to recognize. ) of "aa-". A.M. Best has also affirmed the debt rating of "a-" on the $100 million 6.25% senior unsecured notes issued by State Auto Financial Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : STFC STFC Swindon Town Football Club STFC Self Test Feature Check STFC Shrewsbury Town Football Club STFC Star Trek: First Contact STFC Saskatoon Track and Field Club (Saskatoon, SK, Canada) ) (Columbus, OH) and its ICR of "a-". Concurrently, A.M. Best has upgraded the financial strength rating to A+ (Superior) from A (Excellent) of Meridian Meridian (mərĭd`ēən), city (1990 pop. 41,036), seat of Lauderdale co., E Miss., near the Ala. line; settled 1831, inc. 1860. Citizens Mutual Insurance Company (Meridian Citizens) and Meridian Security Insurance Company (Meridian Security) (both of Indianapolis, IN). As of January 1, 2005, Meridian Citizens and Meridian Security were added to the State Auto pool and as such, now carry the pool rating. The outlook for all ratings remains stable. The ratings reflect State Auto's strong capitalization capitalization n. 1) the act of counting anticipated earnings and expenses as capital assets (property, equipment, fixtures) for accounting purposes. 2) the amount of anticipated net earnings which hypothetically can be used for conversion into capital assets. , generally favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. earnings and excellent regional market franchise. These attributes reflect its long-standing market presence, well-established agency relationships, diversified diversified (di·verˑ·s product offerings and adherence to sound underwriting Underwriting 1. The process by which investment bankers raise investment capital from investors on behalf of corporations and governments that are issuing securities (both equity and debt). 2. The process of issuing insurance policies. fundamentals. Somewhat offsetting these positive rating factors include variability in operating results in recent years, which reflects weather-related losses, rising loss costs and adverse loss reserve development on the Meridian business. In addition, the pool will have debt servicing requirements due to the above mentioned debt issuance, which could put a strain on future earnings. However, State Auto has implemented numerous initiatives to improve earnings, which includes re-underwriting, pricing adjustments and agency management actions. As a result of these actions, firm market conditions and the recent improvement in loss reserve development related to the Meridian business, State Auto's operating results improved significantly in 2003 and 2004. The financial strength ratings of A+ (Superior) have been affirmed with a stable outlook for State Auto Insurance Companies and its following members: --State Auto Florida Insurance Company --Farmers Casualty Insurance Company --Milbank Insurance Company --State Auto Property and Casualty Insurance Company --State Auto Insurance Company of Wisconsin --State Auto National Insurance Company --State Automobile Mutual Insurance Company --State Auto Insurance Company of Ohio An issuer credit rating of "aa-" has been assigned with a stable outlook to State Auto Insurance Companies. An issuer credit rating of "a-" has been affirmed with a stable outlook for State Auto Financial Corporation. The financial strength rating of A (Excellent) has been upgraded to A+ (Superior) with a stable outlook for the following State Auto Insurance Companies' members: --Meridian Citizens Mutual Insurance Company --Meridian Security Insurance Company The following debt rating has been affirmed with a stable outlook: State Auto Financial Corporation-- --"a-" on $100 million 6.25% senior unsecured notes, due 2013 For Best's Debt Ratings, all other Best's Ratings Best's rating A rating A.M. Best Co. assigns to insurance companies based on the company's ability to meet its obligations to its policyholders. , an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit http://www.ambest.com/ratings. For current Best's Ratings, independent data and analysis on more than 3,000 individual property/casualty companies, groups and industry composites, please visit http://www.ambest.com/pc. A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at http://www.ambest.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion