AIG profit up on insurance business strength

American International Group today said quarterly profit rose 26 per cent, helped by growth in its general insurance and foreign…

American International Group today said quarterly profit rose 26 per cent, helped by growth in its general insurance and foreign life insurance business.

The New York-based company, the world's largest insurer by market value, said second-quarter net income rose to $2.86 billion, or $1.09 per share, from $2.28 billion, or 87 cents per share, a year earlier.

AIG employs 380 people in its Irish headquarters in Dublin's IFSC.

Excluding changes in the value of its investments, the company said it earned $1.14 per share, up from 96 cents a year earlier.

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Revenue rose 20 per cent to $23.8 billion, and net premiums written rose 17 per cent to $10.4 billion.

Operating income at its asset management business rose 41 per cent to $276.5 million.

For several years, the company's insurance operations benefited from the rise in insurance rates that were pushed through by insurance companies after a price war for much of the 1990s. But these increases have begun to level off and even decline in spots.