Employers Mutual Casualty Affirmed

S&P’s Ratings affirmed its ‘BBBpi’ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Employers Mutual Casualty Co. and related pool members (collectively referred to as EMC) based on the companies’ improving operating performance, partially offset by declining capitalization and high common stock leverage.

S&P’s said EMC has shown significant signs of improvement, with a net gain of $26.5 million in the first six months of 2002 compared with a net loss of $13.2 million for the first six months of 2001. “The company’s poor performance in 2001 can be largely explained by record catastrophe losses, including losses related to the World Trade Center catastrophe,” noted Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Polina Chernyak.

Employers Mutual Casualty Co., based in Des Moines, Iowa, is licensed in all states and the District of Columbia. Employers Mutual Casualty Co. owns 79.5 percent of EMC Insurance Group Inc.

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance Casualty