Dutch insurer Aegon on Thursday reported a 37 per cent slump in its second quarter net profit and said it was selling is share in a joint venture with Spain’s Banca Civica.
Net profit fell to 254 million euros ($314 million) from 403 million euros the same time last year, hit by a 265 million euros charge relating to improvements in insurance products, Aegon said in a statement.
The results however were better than the 181 million euros expected by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
Sales jumped 27 per cent year-on-year to 1.6 billion euros, Aegon said. Chief executive Alex Wynaendts said the results were sold, despite “historically low interest rates, continued market volatility and stagnant growth affecting the world’s leading economies.”
The Hague-based group said it was selling its 50 per cent interest in a joint venture with Spain’s Banca Civica for 190 million euros to CaixaBank following a merger between the two banks.
Aegon said a cost reduction programme in the Netherlands remained on track, saving the company 62 million euros to date and reducing its cost base to a total of 100 million euros by the end of the year, compared to 2010.
The company, created in 1983 after the merger of two Dutch insurers, has about 27,000 employees and more than 40 million clients, mainly in the Netherlands, the United States and Britain.
The Hague, Aug 9, 2012 (AFP)
