S&P: Hanover Insurance unchanged

Standard & Poor's said it was taking no ratings action following the pre-announcement by The Hanover Insurance Group Inc. that it would be taking a $52 million charge in third-quarter 2006 to strengthen its reserves for claims related to Hurricane Katrina.

Although the magnitude of this charge - coming a full year after the storm losses occurred - is a surprise, the charge is not large enough to materially change our expectation for full-year 2006 earnings, the agency said.

Through the first six months of 2006, the company posted pretax earnings from continuing operations of $163.7 million, up 27% from those of the prior year, S&P said, adding that the combined ratio for the first six months of 2006 improved to 94.8% from 96.3% in the 2005 period.

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