Standard & Poor’s upgraded its insurer financial strength rating on SCOR SE to AA- from A+, the rating agency announced Friday, citing the reinsurer’s strong competition position as a factor supporting the action.

S&P also noted SCOR’s resilience in pricing, technical profitability

in its property/casualty book and leading position in the U.S. life reinsurance market.

“We believe that the group has successfully withstood pricing pressures in the

buyer’s market in the P/C reinsurance industry and has also been able to defend its market share in the consolidating reinsurance sector thanks to prudent risk management and pricing discipline,” S&P said.

“SCOR continues to exhibit strong and stable earnings that should sustain extremely strong capital adequacy through 2017,” the announcement added.

S&P noted that SCOR posted a combined ratio under 90 in 2914 (89.5) while recording a 10 percent increase in gross premium written.

“We also anticipate that the group’s risk profile is unlikely to deteriorate and we see no increase in potential for material volatility,” S&P said.

S&P attached a stable outlook to the rating.

Separately, Denis Kessler, Chairman and CEO of SCOR, commented on the rating action: “The upgrade of our rating to AA- demonstrates the pertinence of SCOR’s business strategy, which continues to withstand the current macroeconomic and market environment.

This upgrade confirms SCOR as a Tier 1 global reinsurer. We are thus approaching the renewal period starting with the Monte-Carlo Rendez-Vous under very good conditions, with our teams more motivated than ever to provide our clients worldwide with first-class P/C and Life reinsurance services,” he said.

Source: Standard & Poor’s; SCOR SE