AIG REPORTS NET LOSS OF $183M IN Q1

AIG missed analyst forecasts by producing a net loss of $183m for the first quarter of 2016, compared with a net income of $2.5bn in last year’s first quarter, driven by the impact of market volatility on its investment portfolio, capital losses and restructuring costs. Operating income fell 28% to $720m in AIG’s property/casualty segment, with a 39% decline to $889m in its commercial insurance unit. AIG’s chief executive, Peter Hancock, said the company was making progress on its strategic objectives, adding that it had returned $4bn of capital to shareholders during the quarter. Ahead of the results announcement, AIG revealed it had raised $1.25bn by selling around 740million shares in China’s PICC Property and Casualty Company, having raised around $1.3bn in sales of shares in the insurer last year. AIG has been under pressure from activist investors Carl Icahn and John Paulson to split the group into separate property/casualty, life and mortgage insurance companies in recent months.