| |
| | S&P Lowers HIH Insurance to 'BBB-'; Still Watch Neg |
 | | The ratings action follows HIH's disclosure to the market that a current review of claims estimates, asset valuations, and business restructuring may have a material impact on the interim loss to Dec. 31, 2000. |
 | | Although HIH has not yet quantified the loss (it expects to report its interim result on March 16, 2001), Standard & Poor's believes that the loss will be outside the tolerance of the triple-'B'-plus/Watch Neg/-- rating assigned to HIH in November 2000. |
 | | The single-'A'-minus/Stable/-- ratings assigned to HIH's New Zealand operations, HIH Casualty and General Insurance (N.Z.) Ltd., are unchanged, reflecting the strong stand-alone financial structure of HIHNZ, very good operating performance, solid market position in broker-distributed commercial lines business, and implementation of a legal structure to protect the company's strong capitalization, Standard & Poor's said. |
| www.prnewswire.com /cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/02-26-2001/0001435085 (360 words) |
|