Moody's Investors Service Confirms Rating for The PMI Group, Inc.
Senior Debt Rating of B3 Confirmed, Outlook Revised to Developing
The PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE:PMI) (the 'Company') today announced that Moody's Investor Service (Moody's) confirmed the Company's senior debt ratings of B3 and revised the ratings outlook to developing. The Moody's action comes as the Company successfully executed its Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the 'Amended Agreement'). The Amended Agreement reduces the size of the facility to $125 million and eliminates certain financial covenants and events of default contained in the previous revolving credit facility. Moody's stated in their release 'the confirmation of PMI's senior debt rating reflects the reduction in near term default risk as a result of the amended terms of the bank credit facility.'
Moody's confirmed the following ratings with a developing outlook:
Company Rating
The PMI Group, Inc.
Senior Unsecured Debt B3
Junior Subordinated Debt Caa1
On February 13, 2009, Moody's assigned the following ratings with a developing outlook:
Company Rating
Insurer Financial Strength
PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. Ba3
PMI Insurance Co. Ba3
PMI Mortgage Insurance Company Limited (PMI B1
Europe)
About The PMI Group, Inc.
The PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE:PMI) , headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA provides credit enhancement solutions that expand homeownership while supporting our customers and the communities they serve. Through its wholly and partially owned subsidiaries, PMI offers residential mortgage insurance and credit enhancement products. For more information: www.pmi-us.com.
Cautionary Statement: Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, or that relate to future plans, events or performance are 'forward-looking' statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements herein, including our view of the additional flexibility provided by the Amended Agreement, by their nature involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Many factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others:
-- Potential significant future losses as a result of changes in economic
and market conditions, such as a deepening of the current economic
recession; decreases in housing demand, mortgage originations or
housing values; a further reduction in the liquidity in the capital
markets or further contraction of credit markets; further increases in
unemployment rates; changes in interest rates or consumer confidence;
and/or changes in credit spreads;
-- our expectation that, as a result of continued losses, we will need to
raise significant additional capital and that such additional capital
may be necessary in 2009;
-- the risk that we may be unable to maintain minimum regulatory
risk-to-capital and policyholders surplus requirements;
-- the limitations we have placed on new business writings and the
concentration of our business among a relatively small number of large
customers;
-- the potential future impairment of the value of certain securities
held in our investment portfolios as a result of the significant
volatility in the capital markets;
-- the potential that our actual losses may substantially exceed our
current loss reserve estimates or that our underwriting policies may
not anticipate all risks and/or the magnitude of potential loss;
-- heightened regulatory and litigation risks faced by the financial
services industry, the mortgage insurance industry and PMI;
-- the performance of our insured portfolio of higher risk loans, such as
Alternative-A ('Alt-A') and less than-A loans, and adjustable rate and
interest-only loans, which have resulted in increased losses in 2007
and 2008 and are expected to result in further losses;
-- the risk that Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac (collectively, the 'GSEs')
determine that we are no longer an eligible provider of mortgage
insurance;
-- further downgrades or other ratings actions with respect to our credit
ratings or insurer financial strength ratings assigned by the major
rating agencies;
-- heightened competition from the Federal Housing Administration and the
Veterans' Administration or other private mortgage insurers;
-- potential changes in the charters or business practices of the GSEs,
the largest purchasers of mortgages;
-- volatility in our earnings caused by changes in the fair value of our
derivative contracts and our need to reevaluate the premium
deficiencies in our mortgage insurance business on a quarterly basis;
and
-- potential additional losses in our European operations as a result of
deteriorating economic conditions and the potential that we must make
additional capital contributions to those operations pursuant to a
capital support agreement.
Other risks and uncertainties are discussed in our SEC filings, including in Item 1A of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, filed May 11, 2009, and of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements.
Media, Tom Taggart of The PMI Group, Inc., +1-925-658-6511 |