The ratings on Italian insurer Società Cattolica di Assicurazione (Cattolica) reflect Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' view of the group's strong property and casualty (P/C) operating performance, strong competitive position in the Italian market, and the management's ability to deliver. Partly offsetting these credit strengths is Cattolica's weakened capital adequacy--our assessment of which is good, but lower than we might expect at this rating level--and its still limited life business profitability In a recovering--but still difficult--market for P/C in Italy, particularly for motor business, Cattolica posted a net combined ratio of 97.7% for 2010. Although this represents a slight increase from 97.5% at year-end 2009, Cattolica continues to outperform the market, for which the aggregated combined ratio was around 100%
