Generali, Fitch upgrades rating to all notes due to management action

• Group’s IFS rating affirmed at A-, outlooks are stable, thanks to improvement of capital position and operating performance

Trieste – Fitch Ratings announced today that Generali’s senior notes were upgraded to A from BBB+, the €1bn 4.125% subordinated notes to BBB+ from BBB and all subordinated notes to BBB from BBB-.

At the same time, IFS (Insurer Financial Strength) rating of Generali and its core subsidiaries was affirmed at A-: Fitch said that the unconstrained IFS rating was upgraded to A from A-, but the application of a sovereign constraint (maximum one notch allowed above the Italian sovereign) kept the final level at A-. The outlooks are stable.

Fitch said that ratings reflects the improvement of Generali’s capital position, the expectations that Generali's operating will continue to be strong and that the ongoing focus of the management will be to preserve capital and reduce financial leverage. Fitch considers Generali to have high financial flexibility, as demonstrated, for example, by pre-funding activities carried out during the last two years. The ratings also reflect Fitch’s recently updated notching criteria for the insurance sector.