A.M. Best Assigns Debt Rating to The Hartford's Junior Subordinated Debentures.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has assigned a debt rating of "bbb+" to the $500 million fixed-to-floating rate junior subordinated debentures of The Hartford Financial Services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. Group, Incorporated (The Hartford) (Hartford, CT) [NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : HIG HIG Human immunoglobulin, see there ]. The junior subordinated debentures have a scheduled maturity of 30 years, a final maturity date of 60 years and are callable Callable Applies mainly to convertible securities. Redeemable by the issuer before the scheduled maturity under specific conditions and at a stated price, which usually begins at a premium to par and declines annually. at par after 10 years. The outlook for the rating is stable. The remaining ratings of The Hartford and its insurance subsidiaries are unchanged. The rating reflects the debentures' subordinated status in right of payment to all existing and future indebtedness of The Hartford, the replacement capital covenant and a 10-year optional interest deferral feature. The net proceeds Net Proceeds The amount received after all costs are deducted from the sale of a piece of property or security. Notes: In the case of an investor selling a security, net proceeds represent the proceeds from the sale minus any trading costs (i.e. commissions). from this offering are expected to be used to repurchase shares of The Hartford's common stock, subject to market conditions, under the previously announced repurchase program pursuant to an accelerated stock repurchase Stock repurchase A firm's repurchase of outstanding shares of its common stock. agreement. The Hartford's pro-forma unadjusted debt-to-total capital (excluding accumulated other comprehensive income In 1997 the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a Statement on Financial Accounting Standards entitled “Comprehensive Income”. This statement required all income statement items to be reported either as a regular item in the income statement and or a special item as ) is expected to remain about 19%. Both the financial leverage and coverage ratios of The Hartford have improved in recent years and remain well within A.M. Best's guidelines for its debt ratings. Given the strong risk-adjusted capitalization and generally favorable core earnings of The Hartford's well diversified life/health and property/casualty operations, A.M. Best believes The Hartford is well positioned to achieve its capital management plans in 2008. For Best's Debt Ratings, all other Best's Ratings, an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit www.ambest.com/ratings. Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion