AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Azuaga – Companhia de Seguros, S.A.

Business Wire

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “bbb-” (Good) of Azuaga - Companhia de Seguros S.A. (Azuaga) (Portugal). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Corporación Financiera Azuaga, S.L., a conglomerate holding company.

The ratings reflect Azuaga’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and marginal enterprise risk management.

Azuaga's risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), is at the strongest level for year-end 2024, and it is expected to remain at the strongest level going forward. The balance sheet strength assessment of strong also reflects the company’s conservative and liquid investment portfolio. Offsetting factors include Azuaga’s high dependence on reinsurance and its small capital base, which exacerbates the sensitivity of its solvency position to stressed scenarios and variations in future performance.

Azuaga reported solid net profits (after tax) of EUR 7.0 million at year-end 2024 under IFRS 17 and benefited from low claim cost. AM Best expects Azuaga to continue reporting solid profits in 2025, as well as prospective years.

Azuaga’s limited business profile assessment reflects its position as a small monoline insurer, focusing entirely on surety insurance in Spain and Portugal. Nevertheless, the company has a good market position in Spain, where it generates most of its revenue, and in the smaller Portuguese market.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM 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 AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.