American Physicians Assurance Corp. Ratings Lowered to 'BBB+' and Put on CreditWatch Negative.Business Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 6, 2003 Local Currency ===================================== Credit Rating: BBB BBB A medium grade assigned to a debt obligation by a rating agency to indicate an adequate ability to pay interest and repay principal. However, adverse developments are more likely to impair this ability than would be the case for bonds rated A and above. +/Watch Neg/-- On Nov. 6, 2003, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Ratings Service A company, such as Moody's or Standard & Poor's, that rates various debt and preferred stock issues for safety of payment of principal, interest, or dividends. lowered its counterparty Counterparty The other participant, including intermediaries, in a swap or contract. credit and financial strength ratings on American Physicians Assurance Corp. (APA (All Points Addressable) Refers to an array (bitmapped screen, matrix, etc.) in which all bits or cells can be individually manipulated. APA - Application Portability Architecture ) to 'BBB+' from 'A-' and placed them on Credit Watch with negative implications. This rating action reflects an announcement by American Physicians Capital Inc. (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 :ACAP (Application Configuration Access Protocol) A protocol for storing configuration information in a central server. It is designed to enhance e-mail functions for remote users by providing a central location for personal address books and client application ), APA's parent, that it was delaying its third-quarter earnings announcement and is expecting to take a $43 million charge for reserve strengthening as well as an additional charge for the elimination of a deferred tax asset. The charges are not in line with Standard & Poor's prior expectations of the company, which were that it was adequately reserved and that it would begin to turn around its operations through corrective rating actions. The holding company has raised about $50 million in capital in 2003 through its participation in trust-preferred pools, but $10 million has already been contributed to APA. Over the next two weeks, Standard & Poor's will discuss with APA's management the availability of additional sources of contributions for the company or other actions the company may take to stabilize capital and reserves.
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American Physicians Assurance Corp.
Counterparty credit rating BBB+/WatchNeg/-- A-/Negative/--
Financial strength rating BBB+/WatchNeg A-/Negative
Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor's Web-based credit analysis system, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Credit Ratings in the left navigation bar A set of buttons or graphic images typically in a row or column used as a central point that link you to major topic sections on a Web site. If the navigation bar is a single graphic image with multiple selections, it is known as an imagemap. See imagemap. , select Credit Ratings Actions. |
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