Best’s News & Research Service - August 02, 2016 03:09 PM (EDT)
A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of NCB Insurance Company Limited
- August 02, 2016 03:09 PM (EDT)
Oldwick //BestWire// - A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of B (Fair) and the issuer credit rating of “bb+” of NCB Insurance Company Limited (NCBIC) (Jamaica). The outlook for each rating is stable. NCBIC’s direct banking parent is National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited and the company is traded on the Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago stock exchanges.
The ratings reflect NCBIC’s strong risk-adjusted capitalization and history of stable operating earnings, as well as A.M. Best’s expectations that the company will continue to operate with similar historical financial stability in the future. NCBIC provides the Jamaica market with its core group life and creditor life products, sold through its banking parent. In addition, a modest premium volume is generated by its unit-linked annuity product.
While NCBIC has demonstrated a favorable operating profile, the company’s operations are concentrated in Jamaica, which is categorized as a country risk tier five (CRT-5) by A.M. Best. A CRT-5 ranking denotes a stressed economic environment with significant economic, financial and political headwinds that are placing a strain on wages and employment, which in turn has the potential to constrain NCBIC’s potential future growth. While these challenges are clearly present, A.M. Best notes that NCBIC has been able to demonstrate a history of stable financial performance to date and expects the company to maintain this stable financial and operating profile going forward.
This press release relates to rating(s) that have been published on A.M. Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page.
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