Softlogic ට දිගටම ෆීච් වෙතින් අනතුරු ඇඟවිම්

(www.randora.lk-27/10/14)- ෆීච් රේටිං විසින් පසුගියදා සිදු කළ ආන්දෝලනයට තුඩු දුන් Softlogic Holdings Plc's (SHL; BBB-(lka)/RWN) හි ණය ශ්‍රේණියේ පහළ දැම්මට සමගාමිව යමින් එහි රක්ෂන අංශය වන Asian Alliance Insurance හිද ණය ශ්‍රේණිය 'BBB+(lka)' සිට 'BBB(lka)' දක්වා අනු මට්ටම් 01 කින් පහළ දමා ඇත.
එසේම මෙහි දැක්ම සෘණාත්මක දැක්මක් බවටද පරිවර්තනය කර ඇත.

ස්වකිය මව් සමාගම වු Softlogic Holdings Plc හි ණය රාමුව දුබල විම එහි රක්ෂන අංශයේ ණය ශ්‍රේණියටද මේ අනුව බලපාන ලද බවත් විශේෂයෙන් Asian Alliance Insurance හදිසි ප්‍රාග්ධන අවශ්‍යතා පිරිමසා ගැනිමෙහිලා මව් සමාගමට මෙමගින් මතු විය හැකි අසීරුතාද මෙම ණය ශ්‍රේණියෙන් නිරුපනය වන බව සදහන්ය.

එසේම මෙහි සියයට 19 කට හිමිකම් කියන Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) සහ nancierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO) හි බලපැම් මත මෙහි විශාල වශයෙන් ලාභාංශ ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කිරිම සමිබන්ධයෙන් මතුවන සීමා කාරිම් නිසා ඇතිවන ආවරණය මත මෙම ණය ශ්‍රේණිය පහළ දැම්ම අනු මට්ටම් 01 කට පමනක් සිමා කළ බවද කියයි.

Fitch Downgrades Asian Alliance Insurance's National IFS Rating to 'BBB(lka)'

Fitch Ratings-Colombo/Hong Kong-27 October 2014: Fitch Ratings Lanka has downgraded Sri Lanka-based Asian Alliance Insurance PLC's (AAIP) National Insurer Financial Strength Rating and National Long-Term Rating to 'BBB(lka)' from 'BBB+(lka)'. The agency also affirmed AAIP's Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Rating at 'B'. All ratings have been placed on Rating Watch Negative (RWN).

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The one-notch downgrade of AAIP's national ratings follows the significant deterioration of its ultimate parent Softlogic Holdings Plc's (SHL; BBB-(lka)/RWN) credit profile which is reflected by SHL's two-notch downgrade on 2 October 2014. SHL's weaker credit profile reduces its ability to provide AAIP with additional capital to support growth if required, and may also diminish the synergistic benefits the company derives from being a part of the group.

AAIP is regulated by the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka and is subject to rules and regulations, including the maintenance of a minimum regulatory solvency of at least 1x for both life and non-life business. The minority shareholders of AAIP, including Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) and Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO, AAA/Stable/F1+) who hold 19% each of the company, are likely to act as a deterrent to excessive dividend payments. As such, AAIP's downgrade was limited to a single notch.

The RWN reflects the potential drag of SHL's weakened liquidity profile on AAIP's credit profile, for example through high dividend payments to support SHL's capital and liquidity needs. SHL's ratings have been placed on Rating Watch Negative (RWN) to reflect concerns on its liquidity, capital structure and financial flexibility.

AAIP's ratings also reflect its modest but growing market share and the pressure on its capitalisation from rapid top line growth. In additional, the ratings are supported by the synergistic benefits gained from being part of the Softlogic group based on SHL's controlling ownership in AAIP. The profile of AAIP has been boosted by DEG and FMO ownership of 19% each in the company.

Established in 1999, AAIP is a composite (life and non-life) insurer accounting for less than 3% of industry assets at end-2013. AAIP has operational synergies with the group due to its presence in healthcare and financial services. The company also has access to the group's branches and retail outlets across the country. The company has over 50 branches. AAIP's combined (life and non-life) gross written premium for 1H14 was LKR2.27Bn, a 14% growth from 1H13.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Rating Watch Negative will be resolved upon demonstration by AAIP of its ability to sustain its credit metrics without any drag from SHL's weakened liquidity position, and upon resolution of SHL's RWN without any further downgrade should the company sufficiently address its near-term refinancing requirements.

The ratings may be downgraded if there is sustained weakening in AAIP's regulatory solvency ratios to below 1.5X for life or non-life, or if there is significant weakening in the credit profile of the controlling shareholders of AAIP.