SAN FRANCISCO (Standard&Poor's) April 7, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that its ratings on Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) (A-/Stable/A-2) and LNC's operating subsidiaries (rated 'AA-' with a stable outlook) are not affected by the company's $500 million payment of maturing debt. The company made the payment through the utilization of ordinary dividends from the operating subsidiaries and not external financing. While this adds additional pressure to our view of capitalization following our asset stress analysis, capitalization remains within our expectations for the rating. On Feb. 26, 2009, we downgraded LNC's operating companies one notch to 'AA-', reflecting greater volatility and lower levels of earnings within the group's operating profile, particularly for its variable annuity and asset
