AM Best downgrades credit ratings of United Fire Group, Inc. and its property/casualty subsidiaries to A- (Excellent) with stable outlook
18 Agosto 2023 - 3:20PM
Today, AM Best announced downgrades of the credit ratings of United
Fire Group, Inc. ("UFG") and its property/casualty subsidiaries.
Specifically, the Financial Strength Rating was downgraded to A-
(Excellent) from A (Excellent), and the Long-Term Issue Credit
Ratings ("ICR") of the property/casualty subsidiaries of UFG to
“a-” (Excellent) from “a” (Excellent). Concurrently, AM Best has
downgraded the Long-Term ICR to “bbb-” (Good) from “bbb” (Good) of
UFG. The outlook of these ratings was revised to stable.
See the AM Best press release at news.ambest.com for full
commentary.
“While we are disappointed with this outcome, we acknowledge
that recent years’ financial results have not met our high
standards as a company,” said Kevin Leidwinger, President and Chief
Executive Officer of UFG Insurance. “We are fully committed to
achieving the level of performance and recognition commensurate
with an “A” rating and will continue to take steps to accelerate
our path to long-term profitability.
“Since taking over leadership of UFG last August, we have made
significant progress in reshaping our company for the future. We
have re-engaged our distribution partners and restored responsible
growth in our core commercial business; delivered diversified
growth in surety, specialty, and assumed reinsurance; evolved the
underwriting organization to deepen our expertise and better serve
the distinct needs of small business and middle market customers;
reduced our catastrophe footprint with a broad range of actions
underway to optimize our catastrophe exposure across the portfolio;
and introduced greater actuarial rigor across the organization. In
addition, we have acted to sustainably reduce our expense ratio
while funding critical investments in technology, analytics, and
talent.
“We believe our actions will soon begin to show progress in
delivering a superior level of financial and operational
performance that our valued agents, employees, policyholders and
shareholders expect and deserve from us.”
“At UFG, we take great pride in our history as a strong and
stable insurance company,” said Jim Noyce, Chairman of the UFG
Board of Directors. “AM Best ratings are an important and respected
measure in the insurance industry. The UFG Board of Directors has
the utmost confidence that Kevin and his team are executing on the
strategies that will deliver profitable growth.”
About UFG
Founded in 1946 as United Fire & Casualty Company, United
Fire Group, Inc. (UFG, Nasdaq: UFCS), through its insurance company
subsidiaries, is engaged in the business of writing property and
casualty insurance. Through our subsidiaries, we are licensed as a
property and casualty insurer in 50 states, plus the District of
Columbia, and we are represented by approximately 1,000 independent
agencies. AM Best Company assigns a rating of “A-” (Excellent) for
members of the United Fire & Casualty Group. For more
information about UFG, visit www.ufginsurance.com.
Disclosure of Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements about our
operations, anticipated performance and other similar matters. The
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe
harbor under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 for forward-looking statements. The forward-looking
statements are not historical facts and involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those
expected and/or projected. Such forward-looking statements are
based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections
about the Company, the industry in which we operate, and beliefs
and assumptions made by management. Words such as "expect(s),"
"anticipate(s)," "intend(s)," "plan(s)," "believe(s),"
"continue(s)," "seek(s)," "estimate(s)," "goal(s)," "remain(s)
optimistic," "target(s)," "forecast(s)," "project(s),"
"predict(s)," "should," "could," "may," "will," "might," "hope,"
"can" and other words and terms of similar meaning or expression in
connection with a discussion of future operations, financial
performance or financial condition, are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of
future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions
that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and
results may differ materially from what is expressed in such
forward-looking statements. Information concerning factors that
could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from
those expressed in the forward-looking statements is contained in
Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A
for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 1, 2023. The risks identified
in our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A and in our other SEC filings
are representative of the risks, uncertainties, and assumptions
that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially
from what is expressed in the forward-looking statements. Readers
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date of this release or as
of the date they are made. Except as required under the federal
securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC, we do not
have any intention or obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise.
Contact: Tim BorstAssistant Vice PresidentInvestor Relations
&Corporate Development319-247-6280
tborst@unitedfiregroup.com
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