NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Oct. 23, 2003--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it revised its outlook on Markel Corp. (NYSE:MKL) to stable from positive. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'BBB-' counterparty credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on MKL. "The outlook revision follows MKL's recent announcement that it will report an unexpected reserve strengthening charge of $105 million in the third quarter of 2003, which is expected to result in an after-tax net loss of $15 million-$20 million for the quarter," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst John Iten. "Because of this charge, Standard & Poor's expects MKL's 2003 earnings to fall below its expectations." In addition, Standard & Poor's is concerned that
