THE HAGUE, November 6 – Dutch insurer AEGON posted a third-quarter net loss of €329 million ($420 million) on Thursday, just days after it was handed a €3 billion cash boost by the government.
The loss is a little less than the €350 million figure projected in results issued on October 28. In the same quarter in 2007 AEGON registered a net profit of €541 million.
"AEGON\’s underlying business remained resilient during the third quarter, despite ongoing turbulence in world financial markets," said a statement chief executive officer Alex Wynaendts.
"Our recent agreement with the Dutch State through AEGON\’s largest shareholder, Vereniging AEGON, will give us an additional buffer in what continues to be an extremely uncertain market environment," he said.
The Dutch finance ministry announced last week that it had reached agreement on the three-billion-euro cash injection deal with AEGON and the Dutch central bank.
The markets took the announcement coldly and AEGON shares plunged 13.96 percent on the Amsterdam stock exchange.
Wynaendts maintains the injection will put the company on a strong footing compared to its rivals.
Among them, financial groups Fortis and ING have in recent weeks received cash injections of €16.8 billion and €10 billion respectively from the Dutch state.
"AEGON is well-positioned to withstand the current financial crisis and benefit from an upturn in market conditions," Thursday\’s statement from Wynaendts said.
