American International Group Inc.'s second-quarter profit climbed 13 percent on a gain tied to the sale of an aircraft-leasing unit in the insurer's final earnings report under Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche.
Net income rose to $3.07 billion, or $2.10 a share, from $2.73 billion, or $1.84, a year earlier, the New York-based insurer said today in a statement. Operating profit, which excludes some investing results, was $1.25 a share, beating the $1.06 average estimate of 24 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Benmosche, 70, has repaid a U.S. bailout, narrowed AIG's focus and cut jobs to improve results at the property-casualty unit since taking over in 2009. Peter Hancock, who's 56 and oversees the property-casualty business, becomes CEO on Sept. 1
Benmosche “did a bunch of great work to bring the company back from the brink, to help shareholders get value,” Josh Stirling, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said by phone before results were announced. “It's going to be a tall order to fill his shoes, but I think it's logical that they're having Peter step in.
AIG rose 1.2 percent to $52.66 at 4 p.m. in New York. The stock has gained 3.2 percent this year, compared with the 4.9 percent advance of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Results were released after the close of regular trading in New York.
AIG recorded a gain of $1.4 billion after tax in the quarter on the sale of the plane business, International Lease Finance Corp., to AerCap Holdings NV. ILFC was the last major unit to be divested by AIGfollowing the bailout.
The insurer sold more than $75 billion of assets such as Asian life insurers and a U.S. consumer lender to raise funds, and finished repaying the 2008 rescue in 2012.
Insurers probably faced more than $1 billion in claims from tornadoes, hail and windstorms that struck the U.S. in June, Aon Plc said last month. In Western and Central Europe, thunderstorms may have caused more than $2.7 billion in economic losses in the month, the insurance broker said.
U.S. property-casualty insurers Chubb Corp. and Travelers Cos. posted second-quarter results that missed analysts' estimates on losses tied to natural disasters and fires. AIG is the largest commercial insurer in the U.S. and Canada.
Insurers have been pressured by interest rates that have been maintained near record lows by the Federal Reserve. The average annualized yield of P&C carriers' investments hit 3.1 percent in the first quarter, the lowest since 1965, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America and ISO.
AIG's life insurance and retirement business, led by Jay Wintrob, generated more than half of the insurer's profits last year. The business boosted sales of retirements products such as annuities as rivals including MetLife Inc. retreat, and has also benefited from investment gains.
Benmosche has paid down debt to safeguard the insurer's credit rating, while boosting its dividend and repurchasing shares to reward investors who helped recapitalize the firm after its bailout
AIG in February lifted its quarterly dividend by 25 percent to 12.5 cents a share, after restoring the payout last year. The insurer said in June that it had authorized the repurchase of as much as $2 billion of stock.
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