Moody's has affirmed the ratings of The St. Paul Companies, Inc. but changed the outlook on its ratings to negative.

Insurance financial strength ratings for members of the St. Paul Fire & Marine inter-company pool were affirmed at Aa3 and the senior unsecured debt rating and rating for commercial paper of The St. Paul Companies, Inc. have been affirmed at A2 and Prime-1, respectively.

A Moody's investor An analyst said: "The change in outlook stems from third quarter results that fell below near term expectations for stronger levels of earnings and interest coverage.

"The negative outlook also reflects St. Paul's increased cash contribution to its reinsurance operations."

However Moody's reassured the insurer by saying: "a return to stronger operating performance and lower holding company leverage would be expected to result in a return to a stable outlook."

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