Torus Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd., Torus Insurance (UK) Ltd., Torus Specialty Insurance Company, Torus National Insurance Company, and Torus Insurance Europe AG have been affirmed the financial strength ratings of A- (excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of "a-" by AM Best Europe - Rating Services Ltd.

Concurrently, Best has affirmed the ICR of "bbb-" of Torus Insurance Holdings Ltd., the group's parent holding company. The outlook for all ratings remains stable.

The ratings of the Torus group reflect the rating agency's expectation that consolidated risk-adjusted capitalisation will remain strong. Additionally, stand-alone risk-adjusted capitalisation at each Torus group subsidiary is expected to remain supportive of its rating level.

Torus Bermuda operates as the recipient of the majority of the group's risk through a 65 percent quota share and an aggregate stop loss of Torus UK. In turn, Torus UK provides the same cover to Torus Specialty and Torus National. Torus Bermuda also provides reinsurance support to Torus Europe through a 95 percent quota share arrangement.

Although risk-adjusted capitalisation is sufficient to support growth, an offsetting factor is the level of growth anticipated in the US market, which Best believes will be difficult to achieve given current challenging market conditions without an adverse effect on performance. In view of this, Best will continue to closely monitor Torus' growth and performance at each individual operating entity.

In 2010, a technical loss is anticipated reflecting Torus' exposure to the major loss events of the year to date, including the Chilean earthquake and the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, and the high expenses associated with the group's expansion.

Despite this, Best anticipates a consolidated pre-tax profit, albeit lower than the $43.8 million reported in 2009. Performance in 2009 benefitted from the absence of significant catastrophe losses during the year and a solid investment return from the group's cash and highly rated fixed income portfolio.