Standard and Poor's yesterday confirmed Generali's long-term creditworthiness at 'BBB+' and 'subsequently withdrew all ratings on the company' and on its subsidiaries upon request' by the same group from Trieste. The decision to ask S&P to withdraw - explains Generali in a note - 'follows an in-depth analysis, in the context of which investors and other stakeholders were also consulted, and is based on the inflexibility of the criteria adopted' by the 'agency' in taking into account the significant improvement in Generali's financial solidity achieved in the last two years'.
Furthermore, 'the automatic link to the sovereign rating applied by S&P does not recognize the high level of diversification of the group nor the benefits of its wide geographical presence', underlines the Trieste-based group. In line with market practice, Generali will continue to be rated by three major agencies: Moody's (Baa1), Fitch (A-) and AM Best (A). S&P has previously downgraded or placed Generali's credit rating on negative watch in the wake of a downgrade of Italy's sovereign credit rating. It happened last December, when the rating was downgraded to the current 'BBB+' from 'A-' 'as an automatic consequence of the downgrade of the Italian sovereign rating' and the outlook was revised to negative from stable.
The scenario of November 2013 was almost identical, when – just on the eve of the Lion's Investor Day in London – the rating was placed under negative surveillance to take into account the exposure to sovereign debt. Most recently today Standard and Poor's confirmed Generali's long-term creditworthiness at 'BBB+' and 'subsequently withdrew all ratings on the company' and on its subsidiaries upon request' by the Trieste group itself
