AEGON : KBC Securities => accumuler

Mercocabrio

25 févr. 2010 •13:23

Résultats meilleurs qu'attendu

AMSTERDAM (Dow Jones)--Dutch life insurance and pension giant Aegon NV (AEG) Thursday swung to a higher-than-expected net profit in the fourth quarter, mainly due to lower write-downs, cost cuts and higher sales, but said the economic environment remains uncertain and that it will continue to focus on bolstering its capital.

Aegon made a net profit of EUR393 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with a EUR1.2 billion net loss a year earlier. Six analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires forecast a net profit of EUR150 million.

The bottom line was helped by lower impairments of EUR209 million on investments, cost cuts and higher sales. It had impairments of EUR501 million in the year-ago period and EUR285 million in the third quarter of 2009.

"Clearly, the steps we have taken over the past year have delivered solid results," Chief Executive Officer Alex Wynaendts said. "[But] given the uncertain environment, we believe that it continues to be prudent to maintain a substantial capital buffer," he added.

At 0808 GMT, Aegon shares were up 1.2% at EUR4.46, the only riser in the AEX market in Amsterdam, which was down 0.8%.

Aegon, one of the worldŽs biggest life and pensions providers, generates the bulk of its earnings in the U.S., where it owns insurer Transamerica.

In the past year, the company suffered big impairments on its investment portfolio, mainly as a result of turbulent financial markets during the global credit crunch. Aegon received a EUR3 billion capital injection from the Dutch state, of which one-third was repaid at the end of last year.

In an effort to cope with the downturn, Aegon has focused on improving its risk profile and bolstering its capital buffer. The company also concentrated on slashing costs and said Thursday that it exceeded its initial target of EUR150 million for 2009 with EUR100 million.

Underlying pretax earnings, the companyŽs preferred measure of profit that strips out some volatile items, showed a profit of EUR427 million compared with a EUR181 million loss in the year-earlier period. Analysts forecast an underlying pretax profit of EUR422 million.

Aegon reported an underlying quarterly profit for the Americas of $446 million, EUR95 million for the Netherlands, and GBP30 million in the U.K.

Analysts said the results were better-than-expected. "Impairments are still relatively high but they are decreasing. This is an important signal to the market," SNS Securities analyst Maarten Altena said. Altena rates Aegon at buy.

KBC Securities analyst Dirk Peeters, who has an accumulate rating on the stock, noted that the results were better on all fronts, as the bottom line, underlying pretax profit and the value of new business were all higher than consensus. Peeters has an accumulate rating on the stock.