• CariA (Regional Scale Foreign Currency)
• CariA+ (Regional Scale Local Currency)
• jmAA+ (National Scale Foreign Currency)
• jmAAA (National Scale Local Currency)

Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) has reaffirmed the assigned Issuer/ Corporate Credit ratings of CariA+ (Local Currency Rating) and CariA (Foreign Currency Rating) on the regional rating scale and jmAAA (Local Currency Rating) and jmAA+ (Foreign Currency Rating) on the national scale to Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited (SGJ or the Group).

These ratings include a 1-notch credit uplift for the high likelihood of support, if needed, from SGJ’s ultimate parent company, Sagicor Financial Company Limited (SFC). The regional scale ratings indicate that the level of creditworthiness of SGJ, adjudged in relation to other obligors in the Caribbean, is good. The Jamaica national scale local currency rating indicates that the level of creditworthiness of SGJ, adjudged in relation to other local currency debt obligors in Jamaica, is the highest. The Jamaica national scale foreign currency rating indicates that the level of creditworthiness of SGJ, adjudged in relation to other foreign currency debt obligors in Jamaica, is high.

CariCRIS has also assigned a stable outlook on the ratings. The stable outlook reflects the high likelihood that the Group will continue to maintain profitable operations over the next 12 to 15 months. This is supported by relatively resilient insurance revenues, strong customer retention, and continued execution of strategic initiatives focused on product development, digital transformation, and operational efficiency. Improving earnings capacity, evidenced by rising Contractual Service Margin (CSM)1 across business segments, should also likely support stable revenue generation and earnings resilience. CariCRIS also anticipates that the Group will remain well-positioned to meet its debt obligations during this period while maintaining sufficient capital buffers.

SGJ’s ratings reflect the Group’s leading market positions and strong brand equity, which continue to support its consistent and healthy financial performance in 2024, despite a fall in profitability. This, together with the Group’s continued comfortable capitalisation levels as well as a strong and comprehensive Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework, supports the ratings. Nonetheless, these ratings are tempered by the interest rate environment, which can challenge SGJ’s Asset Liability Management (ALM) position and the Group’s significant sovereign risk exposure to the Jamaican economy, which could present downside risks to profitability.

Rating Sensitivity Factors:

Factors that could lead to an improvement of the ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• An increase in CariCRIS’ internal ratings assigned to the sovereign, driven by continued favourable improvements in the macroeconomic environment of Jamaica resulting in a lowering of the debt/GDP ratio of the sovereign
• The completion of the proposed merger over the next 12 months which will further strengthen the Group’s competitive position, revenue generation capacity and operational scalability.

Factors that could lead to a lowering of the ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• A significant weakening of the Jamaican economy, resulting in the value of the investment portfolio declining by more than 70% and/or the total investment assets/policy liabilities falling below 0.5 times
• A deterioration in the combined ratio above 90%
• A cost-to-income ratio in excess of 80%.

Sagicor Group Jamaica is headed by CEO  Christopher Zacca. For the financial year 2025, Sagicor Group Jamaica’s net profit attributable to stockholders climbed 75 per cent to J$16.22 billion driven by strong performances across insurance, investments and banking. Insurance revenue increased by J$5.75 billion year-over-year. Sagicor Group Jamaica doubled earnings per share to $4.16 (2024: $2.37).