Fitch Confirms “BB” Rating for SQB Insurance with Stable Outlook

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — On 5 December 2025, Fitch Ratings confirmed the financial strength and long-term issuer default rating of JSC SQB Insurance at “BB”, maintaining a stable outlook.

The ratings of SQB Insurance are supported by its affiliation with Uzpromstroybank (JSC Uzpromstroybank, long-term IDR: BB/Stable). Fitch assesses the company’s standalone credit quality at “b”, reflecting its small scale of operations, weak capitalization, and moderate investment risks.

Fitch notes that integration with the parent bank improves the company’s credit quality by three notches above standalone levels, while the high level of management oversight within the group ensures support for the development of the insurance business.

The company demonstrates limited operational scale and high dependence on the group: SQB Insurance holds roughly 2% of the market, with 24% of its business in the first nine months of 2025 generated through the parent bank, indicating growth in independent distribution channels.

Capitalization remains weak, although the equity coverage ratio under unadjusted methodologies rose to 234% by the end of Q3 2025, up from 199% at the end of 2024. SQB Insurance also meets the new minimum capital requirement for reinsurers — 105 billion soums as of the end of Q3 2025.

The company shows solid investment performance: net profit for the first nine months of 2025 totaled 17.3 billion soums, corresponding to an annualized return on equity (ROE) of 23%. Investments are primarily in national currency deposits placed with state and large private banks.

Reinsurance metrics have also strengthened: the net-to-gross premium ratio rose to 74% for 9M25, with 82% of ceded liabilities placed with reinsurers rated “A” in the UK and Singapore, compared with 61% at the end of 2024.

Fitch states that the stable outlook reflects expectations of continued support from the parent bank and the maintenance of a stable financial profile for SQB Insurance over the next 12 months.