Moody's: Fortis outlook negative

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed Fortis SA and Fortis NV's Aa3 issuer ratings and changed the outlook to negative from stable.

"The negative outlook reflects Moody's expectation of a challenging recovery in the short to medium term of Fortis Group's underlying credit fundamentals, in the context of an uncertain macro-economic environment, a major integration initiative for the group with the acquired ABN AMRO businesses and potential additional depreciation to certain of Fortis' pressurized assets," Jose Morago, Moody's assistant vice president, said in a written statement.

Moody's noted that although the underlying fundamentals of the insurance operations have not changed materially the past few months, the outlook change reflects the potential for pressure on capitalization levels and financial flexibility of the insurance ratings.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.