AIG Q4 profit tops target; virus, disaster, derivatives weigh on results

NEW YORK (Reuters): Insurer American International Group Inc posted a net loss of $60 million in the fourth quarter, mainly due to a $1.2 billion loss from derivatives, the company said on Tuesday, but its adjusted earnings hit analysts’ targets.

Quarterly adjusted profit totaled $827 million, or 94 cents a share, down from $923 million, or $1.03 a share, a year ago. Analysts had expected 93 cents a share, according to data from Refinitiv.

For the full year, AIG posted a $6 billion net loss, largely due to its sale of Fortitude Group Holdings LLC last June. But it met analysts’ estimates with full-year adjusted earnings of $2.2 billion, or $2.52 a share.

The lower 2020 results reflected $1.1 billion in costs related to COVID-19 for the year, and higher losses on catastrophe coverage, the company said.

It company noted that fourth-quarter adjusted pre-tax income of $809 million for its general insurance was up 4% from a year ago. For its life and retirement segment, the figure rose 20% to $1.027 billion.

AIG did not provide a 2021 outlook, having suspended such guidance after the first quarter of 2020. It also did not provide an update on the plan to exit the life and retirement business that it announced last year.

The company will hold a conference call with analysts on Wednesday morning.