London, 18 July 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today affirmed the insurance financial
strength rating (IFSR) of Storebrand Livsforsikring AS (Storebrand Liv)
at A3 and the associated ratings (see list below for more details).
The outlook remains stable for all ratings. The ratings of Storebrand
Bank are unaffected by today's action.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The affirmation reflects Moody's view of Storebrand's top-tier
market position in Norway and solid position within Sweden. The
affirmation also reflects the efforts to de-risk the balance sheet
ahead of Solvency II, notwithstanding the material economic headwinds
Storebrand faces, particularly with regards to the spread deficiency
risk which Storebrand is increasingly exposed to as the low interest rate
environment continues.
Storebrand's market share in Norway, at around 21.5%
of gross written premiums, has consistently remained above 20%
in recent years, although witnessed a slight decrease from the 22.7%
recorded in 2010. In Sweden, SPP's market share of
around 4% remains some distance behind the market leaders,
although it increased from 3.5% in 2010.
The Group's reported solvency margin deteriorated from 161%
at YE 2011 to 152% as at H1 2012 and Core Tier 1 capital fell by
NOK 4.0bn as at H1 2012, in both cases reflecting changes
in the consolidation of SPP into Storebrand's regulatory capital
calculation and the discounting of insurance liabilities. However,
customer buffers increased from 3.3% of customer funds at
YE 2011 to 3.9% in Norway at H1 2012 and from 10.0%
to 11.1% in Sweden as at H1 2012.
Storebrand's average guarantees in Norway remain significant (at
around 3.4%) in the current low interest rate environment,
although we note that Storebrand retains the ability to charge for the
cost of providing these guarantees (NOK 520m in 2011) and that additional
loss absorbing reserves exist (equivalent to 3.9% of customer
funds as at H1 2012) to partially mitigate the spread deficiency risk.
In 2011, the market return of 3.4% equated to the
average guarantee, with the returns credited to policyholders averaged
4.6%, due to the utilisation of the aforementioned
reserves. Furthermore, whilst the overall exposure to Greece/Ireland/Italy/
Portugal/Spain remains sizeable (NOK 12.1bn as at YE 2011),
this is almost entirely held within the policyholder funds.
Moody's also notes that proposals from Norway's Banking Law Commission,
if enacted in 2014, will reduce the risk borne by the company to,
in particular, paid up policies by reducing the guarantee and longevity
risk.
Commenting on what could lead to positive rating pressure in the future,
Moody's noted that these include Storebrand Liv's ability
to deliver sustainable capitalisation levels in excess of 160%,
a meaningful reduction in spread deficiency risk, financial leverage
consistently below 25% and/or a significantly enhanced franchise,
either from a product or geographic perspective.
Conversely, negative rating pressure could arise in the event of
financial leverage exceeding 35%, the solvency margin falling
below 125% under current methodologies and/or sustained negative
interest results being delivered.
Storebrand ASA (the parent company of Storebrand Liv) is a Nordic financial
services group, primarily focussed on writing life insurance business
in Norway and Sweden and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.
As at 30 June 2012, Storebrand ASA reported total assets of NOK
413bn (YE 2011: NOK 401bn), total shareholders' equity
of NOK 19,335 million (YE 2011: NOK 18,777 million)
and post-tax profits of NOK 661 million (H1 2011: NOK 839
million).
The following ratings were affirmed with a stable outlook:
Storebrand Livsforsikring AS:
Insurance financial strength: A3
Junior subordinated debt: Baa2 (hyb)
Subordinated MTN debt: (P)Baa2
Junior subordinated MTN debt: (P)Baa2
Capital Contribution Securities: Baa3 (hyb)
Storebrand ASA:
Issuer rating: Baa3
Senior unsecured MTN debt: (P)Baa3
Subordinated MTN debt: (P)Ba1
Junior subordinated MTN debt: (P)Ba1
The methodologies used in these ratings were Moody's Global Rating Methodology
for Life Insurers published in May 2010 and Moody's Guidelines for Rating
Insurance Hybrid Securities and Subordinated Debt, published in
January 2010. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of these methodologies.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entities, obligations or credits satisfactory for the purposes of
issuing these ratings.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning the ratings is of sufficient quality and from sources
Moody's considers to be reliable including, when appropriate,
independent third-party sources. However, Moody's
is not an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or
validate information received in the rating process.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating
Process page on www.moodys.com for further information on
the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and
recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available.
Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available
to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com
for further information.
In addition to the information provided below please find on the ratings
tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com, for each
of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the lead rating
analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued each of the
ratings.
David Masters
Vice President
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
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Simon Harris
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's affirms Storebrand's ratings (IFSR A3); outlook remains stable