Correction to Fitch Affirms Ratings of MetLife and Affiliates.CHICAGO -- (This is a correction for the release that went out on Oct. 16 and adds an additional affirmation to the list at the end of the text.) Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. has affirmed the ratings of MetLife, Inc. and its affiliates. The rating action affects approximately $13.4 billion of debt and 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. outstanding as of June 30, 2006. The Rating Outlook is Stable. MetLife's ratings continue to reflect solid balance sheet fundamentals, strong cash-flow generating power and debt service coverage, and very strong financial flexibility. Fitch's primary rating concern over the past year relates to MetLife's ability to successfully integrate the acquired Travelers operations. Based on Fitch's review and discussions with management, the integration appears to be on track and largely completed for the U.S. operations, and targeted expense savings are being realized. Longer term, the primary challenge for MetLife is leveraging its increased operating scale and expanded distribution to improve earnings, grow revenue, and control expenses. MetLife's earnings performance in 2006 has been in line with Fitch's expectations. Results in 2006 reflect very strong underwriting results in Institutional Business and very favorable mortality in Individual Life, partially offset by reduced interest margins. Fitch expects MetLife to maintain statutory capitalization levels within its U.S.-based insurance subsidiaries at approximately 325% of company action level risk-based capital. MetLife has made good progress reducing financial leverage following the Travelers acquisition. Adjusted debt to total capital, excluding non-recourse debt Non-Recourse Debt A loan that is secured by some sort of collateral, usually property. The issuer can seize the collateral if the borrower defaults. Notes: These types of projects are characterized by high capital expenditures, long loan periods, and uncertain revenue , is expected to trend down toward the company's maximum of 25% by year-end 2006, and was 28% at June 30, 2006. MetLife's equity-adjusted financial leverage ratio was 23% as of June 30, 2006, based on Fitch's new methodology for equity credit for hybrid securities Hybrid Security A security that combines two or more different financial instruments. Notes: Hybrid securities generally combine both debt and equity characteristics. . Fitch expects MetLife to continue to pursue acquisitions on an opportunistic basis to further strengthen its core insurance operation, which will result in short-term increases in financial leverage above the company's target. MetLife is a holding company and through its subsidiaries and affiliates is a leading provider of insurance and other 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. to individuals and institutional customers. Fitch affirms the following with a Stable Outlook: MetLife, Inc. -- Issuer Default Rating (IDR IDR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Indonesian Rupiah. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. ) 'A+' -- Floating-rate preferred stock floating-rate preferred stock A special and unusual type of preferred stock with a dividend that is reset at specified intervals according to a predetermined formula. , series A 'A-'; -- Fixed-rate preferred stock series B 'A-'; -- 5.25% senior notes due December 2006 'A'; -- 6.125% senior notes due December 2011 'A'; -- 5.375% senior notes due December 2012 'A'; -- 5% senior notes due November 2013 'A'; -- 5.5% senior notes due June 2014 'A'; -- 5.0% senior notes due 2015 'A'; -- 5.25% Sterling senior notes due 2020 'A'. -- 5.375% senior notes due December 2024 'A'; -- 6.50% senior notes due December 2032 'A'; -- 5.875% senior notes due November 2033 'A'; -- 6.375% senior notes due June 2034 'A'; -- 5.7% senior notes due 2035 'A'; -- Commercial paper 'F1'. MetLife Funding, Inc. -- Commercial paper 'F1+'. MetLife Capital Trust II -- Common equity units 'A-'. MetLife Capital Trust III -- Common equity units 'A-'. GenAmerica Capital Trust I -- Capital securities 'A-' Metropolitan Life Insurance Company -- IDR 'AA-'; -- Insurer financial strength (IFS) 'AA'; -- Surplus notes 'A+'. MetLife Investors Insurance Company MetLife Insurance Company of Connecticut MetLife Life & Annuity Company of Connecticut General American Gen·er·al American n. The speech of native speakers of American English that many consider to be typical of the United States, noted for its exclusion of phonological forms readily recognized as regional or limited to particular social groups and for Life Insurance Company MetLife Investors USA Insurance Company New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. Life Insurance Company -- IFS 'AA'. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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