Fitch Ratings has upgraded Generali’s Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating to “A+” from “A” with a stable outlook, and has also upped the firm’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘A’ from ‘A-‘.
Fitch suggested that the upgrades reflect Generali’s “very strong capitalisation and moderate financial leverage” and the “continuous improvement of the group’s credit profile and its strong operating performance.”
The rating agency continued, “Our assessment of Generali’s business profile is based on the group’s ‘Most Favourable’ competitive positioning in its core markets versus that of peers across Europe, the group’s large size and broad diversification across geographies, products, client groups and distribution channels.”
The Italy-headquartered insurer reported a host of substantial improvements in its H1 2023 results, seeing gross written premiums increase to €42.2 billion (+3.6% over the same period last year), which the firm noted was driven by significant P&C growth (+10.6%).
Generali’s H1 2023 operating result grew 28% to reach €3,721 million, while the operating result of the P&C segment reached €1,853 million, marking an increase of 85.7%.
Generali’s combined ratio in H1 2023 was also solid, improving to 91.6% compared to 97% from last year.
