S&P Reviews PI Rtgs On 6 German Life Insurers; 3 Cut.Business Editors FRANKFURT--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Standard & Poor's Dec. 16, 2002--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 public information-based ('pi') counterparty Counterparty The other participant, including intermediaries, in a swap or contract. credit and insurer An individual or company who, through a contractual agreement, undertakes to compensate specified losses, liability, or damages incurred by another individual. An insurer is frequently an insurance company and is also known as an underwriter. financial strength ratings on Mannheimer Lebensversicherung AG (Mannheimer Leben), DEVK DEVK Deutsche Eisenbahn Versicherung Köln (German insurance) Deutsche Eisenbahn Versicherung Lebensversicherungsverein a.G. (DEVK Leben), and Volksfursorge Deutsche Lebensversicherung AG (Volksfursorge Leben), following a review of the companies. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed af·firm v. af·firmed, af·firm·ing, af·firms v.tr. 1. To declare positively or firmly; maintain to be true. 2. To support or uphold the validity of; confirm. v.intr. its 'pi' counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Debeka Lebensversicherungsverein a.G. (Debeka Leben), Landwirtschaftlicher Versicherungsverein Munster Lebensversicherungs-AG (LVM LVM Logical Volume Manager LVM Liikenne- ja Viestintäministeriö (Finnish: Ministry of Transport and Communications; Helsinki) LVM Left Ventricular Mass LVM Landwirtschaftlicher Versicherungsverein Muenster ) (LVM Leben), and HUK-Coburg-Lebensversicherung AG (HUK Leben). (See list below for all rating actions.) The ratings on Mannheimer Leben were lowered to 'Bpi' from 'BBBpi', reflecting the dramatic decline in the company's risk-adjusted capitalization capitalization n. 1) the act of counting anticipated earnings and expenses as capital assets (property, equipment, fixtures) for accounting purposes. 2) the amount of anticipated net earnings which hypothetically can be used for conversion into capital assets. and earnings as a result of poor equity market conditions. In light of its capital constraints CONSTRAINTS - A language for solving constraints using value inference. ["CONSTRAINTS: A Language for Expressing Almost-Hierarchical Descriptions", G.J. Sussman et al, Artif Intell 14(1):1-39 (Aug 1980)]. , Mannheimer Leben plans to shift its product focus toward private pensions and term and disability insurance to reduce its dependence on capital markets. The ratings on DEVK Leben were lowered to 'BBBpi' from 'Api', mainly due to its weakened weak·en tr. & intr.v. weak·ened, weak·en·ing, weak·ens To make or become weak or weaker. weak  en·er n. risk-adjusted capitalization
and earnings. Nevertheless, the company continues to maintain a strong
niche position in the railway employee sector.The ratings on Volksfursorge Leben were lowered to 'Api' from 'AApi', as a result of its reduced risk-adjusted capitalization as measured by Standard & Poor's model. Earnings performance and business position remain supportive of the ratings, however. The 'BBBpi' ratings on LVM Leben and HUK Leben were affirmed, based on Standard & Poor's expectation that the companies will benefit from the financial backing of their respective parents, LVM Landwirtschaftlicher Versicherungsverein Munster a.G. (Api) and HUK Kraftfahrender Beamter Deutschlands a.G. in Coburg (Api) should the need arise. Standard & Poor's regards the capitalization of the LVM and HUK groups as very strong on a consolidated basis. On a stand-alone basis, however, LVM Leben's and HUK Leben's respective capitalization is marginal. The 'BBBpi' ratings on Debeka Leben were also affirmed, reflecting the company's strong and resilient See resiliency. capitalization, which has benefited from a conservative fixed-income-oriented investment portfolio. "The capitalization of the German life insurance industry has suffered significantly from the sharp falls in European equity markets," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Karin Clemens. Moreover, poor investment market conditions significantly constrain con·strain tr.v. con·strained, con·strain·ing, con·strains 1. To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige: felt constrained to object. See Synonyms at force. 2. insurers' financial flexibility (defined as a company's capacity to raise funds in relation to its capital needs). "As a result, Standard & Poor's expects the financial strength of the sector to remain under substantial pressure," said Ms. Clemens.
RATINGS LIST
To From
Mannheimer Lebensversicherung AG
-- Counterparty credit rating
Bpi/--/-- BBBpi/--/--
-- Insurer financial strength rating
Bpi BBBpi
DEVK Deutsche Eisenbahn Versicherung Lebensversicherungsverein a.G.
-- Counterparty credit rating
BBBpi/--/-- Api/--/--
-- Insurer financial strength rating
BBBpi Api
Volksfursorge Deutsche Lebensversicherung AG
-- Counterparty credit rating
Api/--/-- AApi/--/--
-- Insurer financial strength rating
Api AApi
Debeka Lebensversicherungsverein a.G.
-- Counterparty credit rating
BBBpi/--/-- BBBpi/--/--
-- Insurer financial strength rating
BBBpi BBBpi
Landwirtschaftlicher Versicherungsverein Munster
Lebensversicherungs-AG (LVM)
-- Counterparty credit rating
BBBpi/--/-- BBBpi/--/--
-- Insurer financial strength rating
BBBpi BBBpi
HUK-COBURG-Lebensversicherung AG
-- Counterparty credit rating
BBBpi/--/-- BBBpi/--/--
-- Insurer financial strength rating
BBBpi BBBpi
Public information ratings, denoted with a 'pi' subscript (1) In word processing and scientific notation, a digit or symbol that appears below the line; for example, H2O, the symbol for water. Contrast with superscript. (2) In programming, a method for referencing data in a table. , are ratings based on the analysis of an insurer's published financial information and additional information in the public domain. They do not reflect in-depth meetings with an insurer's management and, therefore, are based on less comprehensive information than ratings without a 'pi' subscript. 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 Fixed Income 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 the Standard & Poor's Ratings Desks: London (44) 20-7847-7400; Paris (33) 1-4420-6705; Frankfurt (49) 69-33-999-223; Stockholm (46) 8-440-5916. ANALYST E-MAIL ADDRESSES See Internet address. e-mail address - electronic mail address karin_clemens@standardandpoors.com paul_waterhouse@standardandpoors.com joerg_ritthaler@standardandpoors.com ralf_bender@standardandpoors.com InsuranceInteractive_Europe@standardandpoors.com Copyright 2002, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion