Fitch Confirm that Utmost’s Rating Unaffected by Lombard International Acquisition

Following Utmost Group plc’s announcement of the proposed acquisition of Lombard International Assurance Holdings Sarl, Fitch Ratings has affirmed Utmost Group’s Issuer Default Rating of ‘A’ and its Insurer Financial Strength rating of ‘A+’, both with Stable Outlooks.

This reflects Fitch’s view that Utmost Group’s acquisition of Lombard International will further strengthen its operating scale and improve geographical diversity in continental Europe, in particular in France, Italy and Sweden.

Fitch expects Utmost Group to retain a strong capital buffer following the transaction despite the acquisition being partly funded through internal resources. The £200 million bank loan would negatively affect the Fitch-calculated financial leverage ratio (FLR) and fixed-charge coverage ratio (FCC), although the impact is likely to be small. We expect the FLR and FCC to remain commensurate with the rating.

Read Fitch’s full press release here.