American International Group's life and retirement businesses delivered the highest level of quarterly earnings in the company's history, the company reported today.
The results partially offset weakness in AIG's dominant property and casualty operations, which resulted in a year-to-year decline in operating income for AIG.
The insurer posted first-quarter earnings excluding extraordinary items of $1.21 per share, compared to $1.34 a share in the year-earlier period.
Revenue decreased to $8.23 billion from $8.56 billion a year ago.
Analysts had expected AIG to report adjusted earnings of $1.07 a share on $9.36 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
At the PC unit, net premiums earned fell 4 percent to $8.23 billion, which led to a 26 percent drop in profitability. The primary driver of the decline was a deterioration of underwriting profits, which swung from a gain of $232 million to a loss of $97 million.
The life business, by contrast, showed strong growth, driven by increases in fee income and enhanced spread income, according to Jay S. Wintrob, CEO of AIG life and retirement.
The life business reported higher account balances, due to strong sales and equity market appreciation, and generated increased fee income.
