Associated Press
Aegon profit up on fewer charges, business weakens
Associated Press, 05.12.11, 04:23 AM EDT
AMSTERDAM -- Aegon NV, the Dutch financial company that owns U.S. insurer Transamerica, said Thursday that first quarter profit rose 3 percent, mostly due to fewer one-time charges, as underlying profitability declined.
Net profit was euro327 million ($464 million) compared with euro317 million in the same period a year earlier, mostly due to fewer charges on bad mortgages, though Aegon ( AEG - news - people )'s investments performed worse than they did a year ago.
The company's "underlying" business - a nonstandard measure that seeks to strip out one-time charges and windfalls - fell by 8.4 percent before taxes.
Analyst Lemer Salah of SNS Securities, who rates shares a "Buy, said the company's results were worse than expected due to "lower sales, higher longevity provisions and higher restructuring costs."
The company is moving "toward a fee-based business and a more balanced geographical exposure," he said in a note on the earnings.