A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Republic Companies and Assigns Issuer Credit Ratings.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR (Free System Resource) In Windows 3.x, the amount of unused memory in various 64K blocks reserved for managing current applications. Every open window takes some space in this area. See Windows memory limitation. ) of A- (Excellent) of Republic Companies Group (Republic) and has assigned issuer credit ratings (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 "a-" to its property/casualty insurance operating companies operating company A business that engages in transactions with outsiders. . Concurrently, A.M. Best has assigned an ICR of "bbb-" to Republic's parent, Republic Companies Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:RUTX). The executive offices are located in Dallas, Texas “Dallas” redirects here. For other uses, see Dallas (disambiguation). The City of Dallas (pronounced [ˈdæl.əs] or [ˈdæl. . The outlook for all ratings is stable. The ratings recognize Republic's improved risk-adjusted capitalization due to a continuation of its recently favorable underwriting performance. The improvement has been derived from management's aggressive corrective underwriting actions, enhanced catastrophe reinsurance The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. programs and a re-focusing of its operating strategy as a regional writer targeting niche opportunities through its multi-channel network, resulting in a surplus appreciation of approximately 25% over the past two years. In addition, Republic improved its capital base following the initial public offering (IPO (Initial Public Offering) The first time a company offers shares of stock to the public. While not a computer term per se, many founders, employees and insiders of computer companies have found this acronym more exciting than any tech term they ever heard. ) of its parent company in August 2005, as the majority of the IPO's proceeds were utilized to redeem preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. and accrued preferred dividends. Partially offsetting these strengths is Republic's regional concentration of risk and its exposure to weather-related events. However, a conservative reinsurance program mitigates this exposure both on a severity and frequency basis. Furthermore, revised underwriting criteria and disciplined underwriting assists in mitigating the group's potential exposures in catastrophe prone areas. This is evident in the favorable underwriting performance despite an active 2005 hurricane season Hurricane season refers to a period in a year when hurricanes usually form. For more information see: Tropical cyclone#Times of formation. For a lists of past seasons, see:
The FSR of A- (Excellent) has been affirmed and ICRs of "a-" have been assigned to Republic Companies Group and its following property/casualty affiliates: --Republic Fire & Casualty Insurance Company --Republic Lloyds --Republic Underwriters Insurance Company --Republic-Vanguard Insurance Company --Southern County Mutual Insurance Company --Southern Insurance Company --Southern Underwriters Insurance Company --Southern Vanguard Insurance Company An ICR of "bbb-" has been assigned to Republic Companies Group, Inc. For Best's Ratings, an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit www.ambest.com/ratings. For current Best's Ratings, independent data and analysis on more than 3,000 individual property/casualty companies and A.M. Best groups, please visit 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 www.ambest.com. |
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