Fitch Ratings has assigned a "BBB" rating to QBE Insurance Group's (ASX:QBE) $500 million regulatory compliant Tier 2 subordinated securities, the credit ratings agency said in a statement Wednesday.
The unsecured securities are part of QBE's note issuance program. They carry a maturity of 10.5 years and are callable after 5.5 years. They have a fixed coupon rate of 5.834% until the first reset date of Oct. 3, 2030, per the statement.
The rating is two notches below QBE's "A-" issuer default rating (IDR), comprising two notches for "poor" baseline recoveries and zero for "minimal'"non-performance risk, Fitch said.
The rating agency assumes that "should the company be wound up, the issuer's payment obligations under the securities rank behind all senior creditors, but ahead of ordinary shares and Additional Tier 1 securities."
It also believes that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is unlikely to activate the non-viability trigger as the notes would be written off in part or in full in the event QBE fails to convert the securities to equity within an agreed timeline.
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