S&P Says Allianz Ratings, Outlook ‘Unaffected By 2008 Loss’

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has stated that its ratings and outlook on Germany’s Allianz SE (AZSE – rated AA/Stable/A-1+) and various core operating entities “are unaffected by the group’s announcement of a €2.4 billion [$ 3.023 billion] net loss for 2008.

“We remain of the opinion that AZSE has weathered the financial market turbulence relatively well, based on the group’s comparative capital resilience and continued strong underlying earnings capacity,” S&P added.

The rating agency further indicated that the “loss reportedly stemmed from a €6.4 billion [$8.06 billion] net loss relating to AZSE’s discontinued banking operations. Its sale of Dresdner Bank AG (A/Stable/A-1), nevertheless, had a positive impact on capitalization.

“We estimate that the group’s risk-based capital adequacy was in the low ‘AA’ to high ‘A’ category, based on year-end 2008 figures and taking into account the impact of the sale. Its continuing operations posted, in our view, a sound operating profit of €7.4 billion [$9.32 billion] in 2008.

“We believe that AZSE will continue to benefit from the very stable operating earnings of its property/casualty business, and we view its relatively higher exposure to this segment as an advantage in the current environment.”

Source: Standard & Poor’s – www.standardandpoors.com