Dutch life insurance and pensions company Aegon has reported a net loss attributable to the company of E173m, or diluted loss per share of E0.15, for the first quarter of 2009, compared to net income attributable to the company of E153m, or diluted earnings per share of E0.07, for the first quarter of 2008.
Total revenues for the first quarter of 2009 were E8.64 billion, a decrease of 6% compared to E9.17 billion in the same quarter of 2008. Loss before tax was E455m, compared to income before tax of E217m for the same quarter of 2008.
Underlying loss before tax for the first quarter of 2009 was E22m, compared to underlying earnings before tax of E658m for the same quarter of 2008. Operating loss before tax was E219m, compared to operating earnings before tax of E217m for the same quarter of 2008.
For the first quarter of 2009 new life sales were E543m, a decrease of 21% compared to E686m for the same quarter of 2008.
Total assets of the company as of March 31, 2009 were E283.02 billion, compared to E287.26 billion as of December 31, 2008.
Alex Wynaendts, CEO of Aegon, said: Although we posted a net loss in the first quarter, we are encouraged by the improvement in earnings and the indications that the fundamentals of our business remain sound.
Consequently, we released an additional E900 million of capital during the first quarter, and made solid progress toward our target of reducing costs by E150 million this year. The sale of our life insurance business in Taiwan and the decision to downsize our institutional markets division in the US are but two examples of our determination to execute on our strategy.