S&P Affirms Zurich Re (Koln) ‘AA’ Ratings – Outlook Negative

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s affirmed the double ‘A’ ratings of Zurich Re (Koln), a reinsurance division of Zurich Financial Services, but changed the outlook from stable to negative.

The report recognizes ZRK’s “strategic importance to the Zurich Financial Services group,” and its close financial links, which give it a strong capital adequacy and business position.

S&P explained the change in outlook as reflecting the “marginal operating performance over the past few years and the commoditized nature of a number of markets in which ZRK operates.”

“Maintenance of the rating at its current level depends on a significant improvement in underlying profitability after 2000,” warned the report.