Italian insurers face hard two years, says Fitch

Rating agency Fitch has warned that Italian insurers will suffer subdued profitability and growth until the end of 2013, despite them recently enjoying better underwriting performances.

The agency attributes this situation to the effect both the Eurozone crisis is having and the challenge which the insurers face in readying themselves for Solvency II.

"The eurozone crisis continues to represent the greatest challenge facing Italian insurers," says Federico Faccio, senior director in Fitch's Insurance team.

"This, together with a challenging transition to Solvency 2 for the Italian insurance market, is likely to keep ratings under negative pressure in the next 12-24 months."