AM Best Revises Outlooks to Stable for Mutua de Riesgo Maritimo, Sociedad de Seguros a Prima Fija
24 Julio 2024 - 10:35AM
Business Wire
AM Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative
and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the
Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb” (Good) of Mutua de Riesgo
Maritimo, Sociedad de Seguros a Prima Fija (Murimar) (Spain).
The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Murimar’s balance sheet
strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate
operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate
enterprise risk management (ERM).
The revised outlooks to stable from negative reflect an
improvement in Murimar’s risk management capabilities, mainly
regarding its approach to capital management. AM Best expects the
mutual to continue to operate in line with its established risk
appetites and tolerances, while strengthening its risk management
capabilities.
Murimar’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s
Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), increased to the strongest level at
year-end 2023, from its very strong level in 2022, driven by solid
retained earnings and reduced growth in underwriting risk.
Murimar’s balance sheet strength also factors in its small capital
base, which can give rise to volatility in risk-adjusted
capitalisation.
AM Best considers Murimar’s operating performance to be
adequate. In 2023, the mutual achieved record profits after-tax of
EUR 1.4 million, and a combined ratio of 93.3%, below Murimar’s
five-year average of 95.6% (2019-2023) (as calculated by AM Best).
Prospectively, AM Best expects the mutual to maintain this level of
profitability.
Murimar is a niche insurer focused on marine hull and cargo
insurance for small- to medium-sized vessels in Spain. Murimar
ranks third overall in Spain’s marine market and is a leader in the
fishing vessel segment. In 2023, Murimar reported gross written
premium (GWP) of EUR 36.2 million, of which EUR 33.7 million refer
to non-life business. Distribution through Murimar’s strong agency
network and effective client retention aided by its mutual status
support its market positions. Although concentrated in its domestic
market, Murimar has started to expand internationally over the last
four years. In 2023, international business represented 22% of its
GWP.
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.
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Jose Berenguer, CFA Associate Director, Analytics
+31 20 808 2276 jose.berenguer@ambest.com Dr. Angela
Yeo Senior Director, Analytics +31 20 808 1712
angela.yeo@ambest.com Christopher Sharkey Associate
Director, Public Relations +1 908 882 2310
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com Al Slavin Senior Public
Relations Specialist +1 908 882 2318
al.slavin@ambest.com