OREANDA-NEWS  On 20 October was announced, that international rating agency Standard & Poor`s confirmed long-term counterparty and financial stability BBB credit ratings of Ingosstrakh, stable outlook and the ruAA+ rating on the national scale.

In the report of Standard & Poor`s it is mentioned that the decision was made in the situation of the continued crisis in the domestic and international markets.  Ingosstrakh still has competitive advantages that confirm its leading position in the market of the Russian Federation. Ratings reflect positive track record of the management team, good indicators of operating efficiency and company capitalization.  

According to deputy General Director of Ingosstrakh IJSC Konstantin Sokolov, “getting confirmation of Ingosstrakh’s ratings in the situation of the international financial crisis is extremely important for the company. Clients and partners of Ingosstrakh must be confident that its position is stable and that the company is developing”.

Basic factors that were taken into consideration for ratings are as follows:

Strong management team. Standard & Poor's gets more and more certain every year that the management can attain the ambitious goals of its development strategy to make Ingosstrakh a leading comprehensive insurer in the Russian market.

Good operating efficiency. In the last four years Ingosstrakh has demonstrated sustainable operating results, regardless of tougher competition. It is expected that in 2008 the company will reach a rather high level of profitability, regardless of a difficult market situation. 

High competitive ability in Russia. Ingosstrakh has clear advantages in the Russian insurance market, due to its good name and experience of operating in other countries. The company leads in the segments of insurance of large commercial risks and reinsurance, has strong position in the individual insurance market.

Business diversification in the CIS markets. Geographic diversification is regarded as a positive rating factor and a competitive advantage over domestic companies. In 2007-2008 Ingosstrakh continued to expand its presence in Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

Standard & Poor`s confirms that country risks of Russia reinforce operating and financial risks of financial companies that work here. 

Experts of Standard & Poor`s believe that stable outlook reflects the fact  that in  2008 Ingosstrakh will have quite good profit indicators (in particular,  combined ratio of net losses of less than 100%) and will maintain capital adequacy rate (as calculated by Standard & Poor's with regards to risks) on the level of ВВВ.

It must be mentioned that Ingosstrakh is the only large Russian insurer with such a high rating of Standard & Poor`s.