According to Fitch, this decision reflects “SCOR's favourable business profile within the global reinsurance sector, very strong capitalisation and strong, resilient earnings, despite pandemic pressures.”

Fitch highlights that SCOR’s ‘aa-’ business profile stems from its large scale and its competitive position, and “reflects SCOR being part of a small group of global reinsurers with the scale and financial strength to attract the highest-quality reinsurance business.”

Furthermore, “SCOR’s very strong capitalisation is a key rating strength” and the PRISM ratio remains in the very strong level. 

The agency mentions that profitability for 2020 was impacted by the level of COVID-19 claims reserves bookings but remains manageable for SCOR. Indeed, Fitch believes that “SCOR’s 2021 key profitability guidance of a P&C normalised combined ratio of 95% and below, and a life technical margin of 5% is achievable.”

Laurent Rousseau, Chief Executive Officer of SCOR, comments: “We welcome Fitch’s decision to affirm SCOR’s Insurer Financial Strength at ‘AA-’ and the outlook at ‘stable’. This decision testifies to the strength of SCOR’s business model and its shock-absorbing capacity, while delivering a high level of liquidity and maintaining a strong solvency level. The Group is confident about the future, poised to capture value accretive growth in an improving market environment and create long term value for its shareholders.”

Fitch’s press release is available on their website: www.fitchratings.com