Moody's Gives Willis Upgrade
NU Online News Service, March 26, 1:58 p.m. EST?Willis North America Inc., a subsidiary of Willis Group Holdings, headquartered in London, received an upgrade in it's debt rating from Moody's Investors Service.
The New York City-based credit rating service upgraded the insurance broker's senior bank credit facility rating to "Ba1" from "Ba2." It also upgraded the senior subordinated debt rating to "Ba2" from "Ba3." The outlook for the ratings remains positive.
Moody's said the upgrade reflected significantly improved financial fundamentals for the broker worldwide.
The rating service said benefits of the current hard market, a significant focus on both generating new sales and maintaining existing business as well as careful expense management combined to generate strong revenue growth and significantly improved earnings for Willis.
Moody's noted that Willis' cash flow from operations has also improved.
The firm cautioned that the legal wrangling over claims on the World Trade Center could draw Willis into litigation, with unknown consequences. However, the credit rating service added that it thought the chances of that happening are "remote."
Willis was the insurance broker that represented Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of the World Trade Center. Mr. Silverstein is in litigation suing a number of insurers over his claim that the attack represents two separate claims and not one single incident.
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