AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP, INC. quarterly report, Q3 FY2012

American International Group, Inc. — Form 10-Q Summary

Reporting period: Quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2012. The financial statements are unaudited. AIG is a global insurer operating through AIG Property Casualty, AIG Life and Retirement, Aircraft Leasing and Other Operations.

Financial performance and position

MetricQ3 2012Q3 20119M 20129M 2011
Total revenues$17.648 billion$12.719 billion$53.214 billion$46.838 billion
Pre-tax income from continuing operations$2.595 billion$(4.270) billion$8.930 billion$(3.786) billion
Income from continuing operations$1.860 billion$(3.605) billion$7.640 billion$(2.599) billion
Net income attributable to AIG$1.856 billion$(3.990) billion$7.396 billion$(857) million
Diluted EPS from continuing operations$1.13$(1.99)$4.21$(2.25)
Operating cash flowNot separately providedNot separately provided$2.839 billion$(1.201) billion

Calculated net margins were approximately 10.5% for Q3 and 13.9% for the first nine months, based on net income attributable to AIG divided by total revenues. Results were materially affected by fair-value gains, investment activity, catastrophe comparisons and other unusual items.

  • Balance sheet: Total assets were $550.723 billion versus $552.360 billion at December 31, 2011. Total liabilities were $448.150 billion versus $441.444 billion, and total equity was $102.414 billion versus $102.393 billion.
  • Investments and cash: Total investments were $410.115 billion; cash was $1.608 billion. Available-for-sale bonds had a fair value of $269.914 billion and gross unrealized gains of $25.060 billion, partially offset by $1.836 billion of gross unrealized losses.
  • Debt: Long-term debt was $73.748 billion, down from $75.253 billion at year-end. Total debt, including debt not guaranteed by AIG, was $73.748 billion at September 30, 2012. Nine-month debt issuances were $7.985 billion and repayments were $10.126 billion.
  • Parent liquidity: AIG Parent reported $7.059 billion of cash and short-term investments, $3.537 billion of available syndicated credit facilities and $1.000 billion of contingent liquidity facilities, for total stated liquidity sources of $11.596 billion.
  • Near-term obligations: Debt maturities for the fourth quarter of 2012 through the third quarter of 2013 totaled $6.841 billion. Total contractual obligations were $468.697 billion, including insurance and investment contract liabilities, loss reserves, borrowings, interest and aircraft purchase commitments.

Material changes versus the prior comparable period

  • Revenue increased 39% in Q3 and 14% for the first nine months, while expenses declined 11% and 13%, respectively.
  • Net investment income increased to $4.650 billion in Q3 from $128 million and to $16.236 billion for nine months from $10.161 billion. The improvement included fair-value gains on AIA securities and Maiden Lane III, higher fixed-maturity income and favorable alternative-investment results.
  • Insurance operations improved substantially. AIG Property Casualty pre-tax income rose to $949 million in Q3 from $551 million and to $2.820 billion for nine months from $1.003 billion. Its combined ratio improved to 105.0% from 105.9% in Q3 and to 103.2% from 109.3% for nine months, although the adjusted accident-year combined ratio worsened modestly.
  • AIG Life and Retirement pre-tax income increased to $889 million in Q3 from $346 million and to $2.528 billion for nine months from $2.079 billion. Retirement Services benefited from market performance and lower DAC amortization, but fixed-annuity deposits declined sharply in the low-rate environment.
  • Aircraft Leasing returned to pre-tax income of $40 million in Q3 and $246 million for nine months, compared with losses of $1.329 billion and $1.122 billion. Aircraft impairment, fair-value and lease-related charges fell to $98 million in Q3 and $228 million for nine months, versus $1.518 billion and $1.673 billion.
  • Other Operations generated pre-tax income of $891 million in Q3 and $3.511 billion for nine months, versus losses of $3.945 billion and $5.855 billion. The improvement was driven primarily by AIA and Maiden Lane III fair-value gains and the absence of the prior-year $3.3 billion debt-extinguishment charge.
  • AIG repurchased approximately 421 million common shares for $13.0 billion in Treasury offerings. Treasury ownership declined to approximately 15.9% from approximately 92% before the 2011 offerings.
  • AIG paid down the remaining $8.6 billion of AIA SPV preferred interests in March 2012 and reduced its AIA ownership from approximately 33% to approximately 14%, with a September 30 carrying value of approximately $6.1 billion.
  • AIG retrospectively adopted revised insurance acquisition-cost accounting. The adoption reduced beginning 2011 shareholders’ equity by $3.413 billion and reduced beginning DAC by approximately $5.1 billion.

Outlook, risks and unusual items

  • Hurricane Sandy: The hurricane made landfall on October 29, 2012. AIG stated that it could not yet estimate its losses.
  • Low interest rates: Management expects continued pressure on investment income, fixed-annuity sales, investment spreads, DAC recoverability and long-term insurance profitability. Approximately 61% of relevant annuity and universal-life account values were at minimum crediting rates.
  • ILFC: Management continued to pursue an IPO or sale. Airline bankruptcies and lease returns remained material risks; nine lessees had ceased operations or filed for bankruptcy during the first nine months, returning 54 aircraft. ILFC had commitments to purchase 233 new aircraft with approximately $17.7 billion of remaining payments.
  • Insurance reserves: AIG recorded $329 million of net prior-year adverse development in AIG Property Casualty for the first nine months. Management considered reserves adequate but warned that adverse development could materially affect an individual reporting period.
  • Legal and regulatory contingencies: AIG increased its estimated litigation liability by approximately $742 million for the first nine months. Several securities, ERISA, workers’ compensation, employment, False Claims Act and insurance-related matters remained unresolved, and some potential losses could not be reasonably estimated.
  • Regulatory capital: AIG became subject to Federal Reserve supervision as a savings and loan holding company after Treasury ceased to own a majority of its common stock. AIG was also under consideration for designation as a systemically important financial institution, which could result in higher capital, liquidity, stress-testing, resolution-planning and other requirements.
  • Derivatives and collateral: AIG reported gross derivative assets of $7.872 billion and gross derivative liabilities of $10.959 billion before netting and collateral. A one-notch or further downgrade could trigger additional collateral postings and termination payments; the filing estimates potential additional amounts ranging from negligible to approximately $165 million under specified downgrade scenarios.
  • Tax assets: AIG released approximately $1.7 billion of life-insurance capital-loss deferred-tax-asset valuation allowance during the first nine months. Future market conditions could require re-establishment of valuation allowances.
  • Accounting estimates and valuation: Significant judgment remains concentrated in insurance reserves, DAC and aircraft recoverability, deferred taxes, investment impairments, legal contingencies and Level 3 fair values. Level 3 assets totaled $41.7 billion at September 30, 2012.

Investor verification checklist

  • Verify the impact of Hurricane Sandy on fourth-quarter catastrophe losses, reserves, earnings and capital.
  • Assess whether AIG’s improved results are recurring or primarily driven by AIA, Maiden Lane III, tax valuation allowance releases, fair-value gains, catastrophe comparisons and reduced aircraft impairments.
  • Review AIG Property Casualty reserve development, particularly environmental, asbestos, workers’ compensation and excess casualty exposures.
  • Monitor low-rate effects on AIG Life and Retirement spreads, fixed-annuity sales, DAC, policyholder guarantees and loss recognition.
  • Evaluate ILFC aircraft values, lessee credit quality, lease expirations, aircraft purchase commitments and the feasibility of a sale or IPO.
  • Track litigation, workers’ compensation settlement appeals, regulatory examinations and unresolved claims for which AIG could not estimate a loss range.
  • Confirm the final Federal Reserve, SIFI, capital, liquidity and Volcker Rule requirements and their effect on dividends, repurchases and capital deployment.
  • Reconcile parent liquidity with debt maturities, collateral requirements, subsidiary dividend restrictions and potential downgrade-related funding needs.