ABK Ambac Financial Grp. Common Stock

William Blair & Company Initiates Coverage of Two Leading Financial Guarantors CHICAGO, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- William Blair & Company today announced that it initiated research coverage of two leading financial guarantors -- Ambac Financial Group, Inc. with an Outperform rating and a company profile of Established Growth and MBIA Inc. with a Market Perform rating and company profile of Core Growth. Financial guarantors insure all principal and interest payments when due on municipal bonds and other structured finance obligations. Analyst Mark Lane estimated that, excluding net realized investment gains/losses and changes in fair value of credit derivatives, Ambac would earn $5.45 per share in 2003 and $6.00 per share in 2004 and MBIA would earn $4.70 per share in 2003 and $5.15 per share in 2004. "We view the financial guaranty industry as an above-average growth market within financial services, with good stability, particularly relative to other segments of insurance within our coverage universe, including property- casualty and life," Lane said. "We believe these stocks can be owned over the long term, given this combination of growth and stability. The value and integrity of the financial guaranty product is well established, and the industry has been well tested during specific shock events and periods of economic stress, in our opinion." "Ambac is the most profitable and efficient company in the industry, with a sparkling long-term record," he added. "MBIA is a first-rate franchise but is still in transition, with opportunities to improve its risk profile and return on equity further, in our opinion." For important disclosures and information regarding the firm's rating system, valuation methods and potential conflicts of interest, please visit: http://www.williamblair.com/pages/eqresearch_home.asp?uid=580&bNews=1 . Additional information is available upon request. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, CRD number 1252. DATASOURCE: William Blair & Company, L.L.C. CONTACT: Tony Zimmer of William Blair & Company, L.L.C., +1-312-364-8611, Web site: http://www.williamblair.com/

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