Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 2
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
The international rating agency Fitch Ratings has confirmed the financial stability rating of the Azerbaijani insurance company AzInsurance at the level of "B".
The outlook was downgraded from "Stable" to "Negative"
The revision of the rating outlook reflects the weak business profile of AzInsurance and the low stability of the insurer to the complex operating environment in Azerbaijan, the deterioration of the company's financial performance for the third quarter of 2017 and the lack of distinctive competitive advantages. The affirmation of the rating reflects the strong position of AzInsurance's regulatory capital.
"AzInsurance is an average insurance company, the company's fees for the first nine months of 2017 amounted to 17 million manats. We believe that the company has no special competitive advantages that could improve its financial performance or increase business volumes. In the third quarter, in response to a weaker economic environment, AzInsurance has adopted a new business plan. The company intends to optimize its business processes by digitizing, cutting costs and diversifying its list of insurance products due to product innovation, however, Fitch's views this business as a complex strategy for the successful implementation", the agency’s analysts say.
AzInsurance has been operating in the insurance market of Azerbaijan since 2006 and has branches and representative offices in several regions of the country: in Sumgait, Ganja, Lankaran, Shirvan, Sheki, Gabala, Terter, Shamakh and Yevlakh.