AIG Jumps Over Low Earnings Hurdle

The company had share repurchases of approximately $867 million in the first quarter, and that leaves $537 million remaining under repurchase authorization. AIG’s book value per grew by 6% from a year ago to $71.77 per share. The company represented that the book value per share excluding accumulated other comprehensive income grew 10% from a year ago to $65.49 per share.

AIG shareholder equity was $103.8 billion as of March 31, 2014. AIG’s parent liquidity was listed as $15.6 billion, including $11.2 billion of cash and equivalents. AIG also showed that some $1.7 billion of cash dividends from AIG Life and Retirement were seen in the first quarter of 2014.

President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche said:

I am very pleased with AIG’s solid operating profits this quarter. The earnings power of our business coupled with our customer strategy reinforce the strength of our foundation throughout our core insurance operations. I am encouraged by the positive momentum we’ve generated around the world, which has enabled us to become closer to, and better serve, our customers. These results reflect strong operating income across our insurance operations, as well as execution of our capital management strategy. We remain diligently focused on increasing operational efficiency, managing our expenses, and investing in technology; we continue to look at ways to simplify and make our organization more efficient to ensure that we are creating a company that will thrive well into the future.

Benmosche also talked up the long-term, to develop and grow AIG so that it is more sustainable.

AIG shares rose 0.7% on the trading day, and the stock was down 2% to $51.62 initially in the after-hours reaction. The stock’s 52-week range is $41.53 to $53.33, and the consensus price target going into earnings was $55.95.