AIG posts second consecutive quarterly profit

American International Group Incorporation, the insurer bailed out by the US government, posted its second straight quarterly profit on Friday, helped by recovery in the value of its investments.

Net profit was USD 455 million, or 68 cents a share, compared with a loss of USD 24.47 billion, or USD 181.02 a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

The results included USD 1.95 billion in special gains, including from improvement in the value of securities held by AIG Financial Products, the unit largely responsible for AIG's massive losses in 2008, which led to the US bailout.

Adjusted profit, excluding realized gains and losses, was USD 1.9 billion, or USD 2.85 a share. On that basis, analysts on average expected USD 1.98 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Since September 2008, US taxpayers have put up to USD 180 billion at AIG's disposal, including more than USD 80 billion in loans the company has been trying to repay through asset sales.

Once the world's largest insurer, AIG nearly collapsed under massive losses and collateral demands from credit default swaps it sold to financial firms to guarantee residential mortgage investments.

Its shares initially fell more than 10 percent in premarket trade but later were down just 4% at USD 37.60.