P&C debt rises as US underwriting profits drop: Fitch

Debt levels at US property and casualty carriers rose last year
faster than the insurers accumulated fresh capital, Fitch Ratings
concluded in a study of the industry's leverage released
yesterday.
The financial leverage ratio among publicly traded debt-issuing
P&C companies rose to 24.2 percent by the end of 2016, Fitch
said. The figure stood at 22.6 percent at the end of the previous
year.
The ratio is expected to moderate near-term and decline to
around 23 percent, according to Martha...