NEW YORK—Standard & Poor's Corp. has lowered the financial strength rating on the property/casualty operating subsidiaries of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. for the second time in a week.
The New York-based rating agency on Tuesday lowered the rating to A from A+ for both the property/casualty and life operations, among other ratings changes. On Feb. 26, S&P lowered those ratings to A+ from AA-, in addition to other ratings changes.
S&P analyst Robert A. Hafner said: "When we lowered them on Thursday, we also placed those ratings on CreditWatch, indicating there could be further ratings movement. There were further matters that we needed to discuss with management, and so we did it in two steps," said Mr. Hafner, who did not reveal additional details.
In a statement issued Tuesday, S&P analyst Shellie Stoddard said that the downgrade "reflects our opinion that Hartford's earnings, capitalization and financial flexibility have been weakened considerably by the deepening equity market decline, continuing volatility, and significant asset impairments in the past two quarters."
Ms. Stoddard said "we believe the uncertainty of this financial stress could erode Hartford's brand and diverse competitive advantages, particularly in certain lines of business."
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