AIG narrows fourth quarter loss, continues restructuring

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) — AIG said Friday it lost $8.87 billion in the fourth quarter as its general insurance business remained weak and the company ran up expenses from paying back government loans.

The troubled insurer also said in an annual regulatory filing that it may need additional support from the government. However, AIG has included such warnings in past filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The fourth-quarter results were an improvement from the $61.7 billion AIG lost in the year ago period, but they were worse than analysts expected. They also followed two straight profitable quarters.

The company reported a 2.2 percent drop in new premiums in its Chartis general insurance business, compared with a year earlier. AIG attributed the slide in part to the weak economy. It also had lower sales of life insurance products, and it added $2.3 billion to its reserves against losses in its commercial insurance business.

AIG also reported $6.2 billion in expenses from repaying government loans.

The concern in the market is that AIG’s insurance business, which was not the cause of its near-collapse in 2008, needs to be stronger for the company to keep repaying the government and become independent again.

New York-based American International Group Inc. said Friday it lost $65.51 per share in the last three months of 2009. The compares to a loss of $458.99 per share in the fourth quarter of 2008.

On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast a quarterly loss of $3.94 per share.

AIG was bailed out in September 2008 by the government as the financial crisis spiraled out of control. The insurer has received aid packages with a total value of $182.5 billion from the government. In return for that financial support, the government received an 80 percent stake in AIG.