The rating agency AM Best, on 29th May 2024, has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICRs) to ’a+’ (Excellent) from ‘a’ (Excellent) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating – IFS rating of A (Excellent) of Compagnie française d’assurance pour le commerce extérieur (la Compagnie), Coface North America Insurance Company (CNAIC) and Coface Re. The outlook for these ratings is “stable”.
In its press release, AM Best highlights that this rating reflects, “Coface group’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, favourable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management”.
This strength is underpinned by a consolidated risk-adjusted capitalization at the strongest level as measured by the Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR) score.
AM Best also believes that “the group’s prospective performance may be subject to volatility, driven by the uncertain global operating environment. However, the group is able to take prompt risk-mitigating actions on non-performing business when required” and AM Best expects “cross-cycle performance metrics to remain supportive of the strong assessment”.
Last, in its release, the rating agency underscores that this note reflects Coface’s “leading position in the global credit insurance market, which is characterised by high barriers to entry”.
Phalla Gervais, Chief Finance & Risk Officer, commented:
We are very pleased with the upgrade of the Long-term Issuer Credit Ratings of AM Best from ‘a’ (Excellent) to ‘a+’ (Excellent). This is a great reward to Coface teams for the hard work and the commitment to provide a high level of service to our clients. It also recognizes Coface’s agility and resilience, as well as the quality of its risk management, which are at the heart of our culture, our expertise and our new strategic plan Power the Core.
