OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of MAPFRE PRAICO Insurance Company, its wholly owned subsidiary, MAPFRE Preferred Risk Insurance Company, and an affiliate, MAPFRE Pan American Insurance Company, collectively known as the MAPFRE PRAICO Group (MPG). The outlook for all ratings is negative. All companies are domiciled in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The ratings reflect MPG’s excellent capitalization, solid operating performance driven by investment income and consistently profitable underwriting results, established market presence within Puerto Rico and strong risk management practices. The ratings also reflect MPG’s strong brand name recognition within the Puerto Rican market and its integral role as a member of MAPFRE S.A. (MAPFRE), the largest insurance group in Spain.
Partially offsetting these positive rating factors is MPG’s geographic concentration of risk, which potentially exposes capital to frequent and severe weather-related events. Operating almost exclusively within Puerto Rico, results remain exposed to potential changes within the judicial, regulatory and economic climate. The negative outlook reflects the potential weakening in the consolidated risk-adjusted capitalization of MPG’s ultimate parent, MAPFRE, regarding the eurozone sovereign debt crisis given its sizeable exposures to peripheral eurozone debt.
MAPFRE faces higher country risk due to the deterioration in the sovereign creditworthiness of Spain in recent years. At year-end 2012, Spanish sovereign debt accounted for nearly 25% of the consolidated group’s EUR 39 billion of invested assets. MAPFRE also maintains sizeable exposure to Spanish financial institutions and commercial property via its Spanish holdings. The Spanish insurance market remains important to MAPFRE, with approximately 33% of its consolidated gross written premiums and 38% of its consolidated insurance result derived from domestic business in its home market. Although the consolidated group enjoys a geographically diversified portfolio, particularly in Latin America and the United States, the majority of its business is derived from countries with sovereign creditworthiness equal to or lower than that of Spain.
Negative rating actions would likely originate from MAPFRE and would arise if there were a worsening of its risk-adjusted capitalization tied to investment losses or deterioration in the operating environment in key territories.
The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best’s Credit Rating Methodology, which provides a comprehensive explanation of A.M. Best’s rating process and contains the different rating criteria employed in the rating process. Best’s Credit Rating Methodology can be found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology.
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