S&P Cuts NPI Ltd. Ratings to 'BBB'; Outlook Negative.Business Editors LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 2003 Standard & Poor's--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. said today it lowered its insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on U.K.-based NPI NPI National Provider Identifier, see there Ltd. (NPI) to 'BBB' from 'BBB+'. The outlook is negative. The rating action follows the announcement today by AMP Ltd. that its 100%-owned subsidiary, NPI, would be placed into run off following a strategic review. Pearl Assurance PLC, National Provident Life Ltd., and NPI, together with London Life Ltd., comprise the AMP U.K. Life Services group, a unit of the Australia-based insurance and fund management group, AMP Ltd. NPI wrote GBP GBP In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the British Pound. 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. 134 million of new equivalent annual premiums in 2002, with total assets of GBP3.4 billion. "The ratings on NPI reflect its stand-alone financial strength supported by its run-off status, and adequate capitalization," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst David Harrison David Harrison may refer to:
See also: Absolute capital is modest, solvency coverage remained adequate in 2002 at 1.9x coverage of the required minimum margin, reflecting the company's predominantly unit-linked liability profile. Standard & Poor's analysis of the U.K. Life Services group going forward will focus on the key issues of persistency, expense control, and asset-liability management of the closed funds. "The negative outlook reflects the inherent uncertainties surrounding the execution of AMP's plans to demerge De`merge´ v. t. 1. To plunge down into; to sink; to immerse. The water in which it was demerged. - Boyle. its U.K. operations and the consequent risks if capital adequacy and capital quality in the U.K. are not improved in line with expectations," added Mr. Harrison. "If these risks are mitigated, the rating outlook could revert to stable from negative," he added. 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. Alternatively, call one of Standard & Poor's Ratings Desks: London (44) 20-7847-7400; Paris (33) 1-4420-6705; Frankfurt (49) 69-33-999-223; or Stockholm (46) 8-440-5916. Members of the media may contact the Press Office Hotline on (44) 20-7826-3605 or via media_europe@standardandpoors.com. ANALYST E-MAIL ADDRESSES See Internet address. e-mail address - electronic mail address mark_button@standardandpoors.com kate_thomson@standardandpoors.com david_harrison@standardandpoors.com InsuranceInteractive_Europe@standardandpoors.com Copyright 2003, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services |
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