LONDON, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Following receipt of final documentation,
Standard & Poor's today affirmed its double-'A' senior unsecured debt rating
on the GBP525 million five-year convertible bond issued by Legal & General
Group PLC (L&G; AA/Stable/A-1+). (For further details, please refer to the
press release titled "Legal & General's Proposed Convertible Bond Issue Rated
'AA'", published on Nov. 20, 2001, on RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor's
Web-based credit analysis system.)
At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'A-1'-plus short-term
rating on Legal & General Finance PLC's euro commercial paper program, based
on an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee by L&G of the due and punctual
payment of all amounts due under the program.
The affirmation of the commercial paper program rating follows the
increase in the maximum size of the program to $2 billion from $1 billion.
This increase will give L&G increased funding flexibility, in particular for
its mortgage lending. Based on the expected drawings under the program, L&G
continues to maintain appropriate liquidity backup, including revolving
committed bank lines and short-term liquid assets, to meet potential
commercial paper refinancing needs. In addition, Standard & Poor's does not
expect the increase in the program size to lead to any material increase in
the group's financial leverage.
The double-'A' long-term counterparty credit ratings on L&G continue to
reflect the standard insurance holding company gapping from the counterparty
credit rating on the principal operating company, Legal & General Assurance
Society Ltd. (LGA; local currency AAA/Stable/--). The triple-'A' counterparty
credit and insurer financial strength ratings on LGA reflect the company's
extremely strong capitalization, very strong financial flexibility, very
strong and defendable business position in the U.K. life and pensions markets,
and excellent operating efficiency.
SOURCE Standard & Poor's
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