Copyright 2003 Business Wire, Inc.
Standard & Poor's--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today lowered its counterparty credit rating on PartnerRe Ltd. (PRE) to 'A' from 'A+'. Standard & Poor's also lowered its financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on Partner Reinsurance Co Ltd. and the other core companies of PRE to 'AA-' from 'AA'. The outlook on all entities of PRE is revised to stable from negative.
"The rating actions reflect Standard & Poor's re-evaluation of reinsurance industry risk and Partner Re's position within that industry following the relatively lower capital adequacy for PartnerRe relative to its business growth," said credit analyst Karole Dill Barkley. Nevertheless, the ratings remain underpinned by PartnerRe Group's very strong operating performance, very strong management team, and very strong financial flexibility (defined as the ability of the company to raise capital to meet its requirements).
The stable outlook is based on Standard & Poor's expectation that the group will continue to generate very strong underwriting and operating results with reduced volatility based on an improved spread of risk. Capital adequacy is within the 'AA-' rating range.
PRE is expected to maintain strong operating performance, with an ROR of 10%-15% or more in low-catastrophe loss years. Capital adequacy is expected to be maintained between 150%-160%.
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, select Credit Ratings Actions.
Copyright 2003, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services