Standard & Poor's confirms its rating on the Company following the presentation of the Business Plan 

Milan, 26 September 2014.

The capital increase strengthens Cattolica’s competitive position, already considered as strong, and it is adequate “to support the ambitious growth and profitability targets set out in the company’s 2014-2017 plan”.

With this motivation Standard & Poor’s confirmed yesterday Cattolica Assicurazioni’s rating, following the presentation of the 2014-2017 Business Plan to the financial community and the announcement of the capital increase for 500 million euro.

Standard & Poor’s affirms that “the increase will allow Cattolica to better defend its strong competitive position in an increasingly competitive environment, especially in Italian motor insurance. At the same time, the capital increase significantly reduces near-term down side risks to Cattolica’s financial risk profile”.

Standard & Poor’s considers Cattolica’s business model as satisfactory as it balances its strong competitive position with an exclusive exposure to the Italian insurance market that, according to S&P, shows a “moderate” industry and country risk. It is known that the Group aims to increase premiums by one billion (to nearly 6 billion) by year end 2017, a goal that S&P views as ambitious but achievable. Cattolica’s rating is affirmed at BBB.

The outlook remains negative while Standard & Poor’s underlines that it mirrors the negative outlook on the Republic of Italy.