AIG Q1 Earnings Top Expectations

reported upbeat earnings for the first quarter on Thursday. The New York-based company posted quarterly net income of $2.47 billion, or $1.78 per share, compared to $1.61 billion, or $1.09 per share, in the year-ago period. Its operating income came in at $1.69 billion, or $1.22 per share, versus $1.74 billion, or $1.18 per share. However, analysts were expecting operating earnings of $1.19 per share. The average estimate among 29 Estimize users was for earnings of $1.18 per share. Pre-tax operating income in the company's commercial insurance segment climbed to $1.46 billion from $1.42 billion, while pre-tax operating income in AIG's consumer insurance operations slipped about 19 percent to $945 million. During the first quarter, the company repurchased around 29 million shares of its common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $1.4 billion. The company's board authorized the repurchase of up to $3.5 billion in additional shares of common stock and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share. "Our first quarter results showed progress on our financial objectives, and our commitment to balance sheet management," said Peter D. Hancock, AIG President and Chief Executive Officer. "Normalized ROE excluding AOCI and DTA of 7.8 percent increased approximately 40 basis points from the full-year 2014 baseline. GOE declined 3 percent from the prior-year quarter as we continued to simplify our processes and organizational structure." AIG shares rose 0.46 percent to $56.55 in the after-hours trading session.