Dow Jones Newswires: Aegon swings to a wider-than-expected loss of $2.85 billion

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Corrections & Amplifications

This headline was corrected at 0645 GMT to reflect Aegon 4Q Net Loss EUR2.36B, not EUR-2.362B

Aegon NV on Thursday reported a swing to a wider-than-expected net loss for its fourth quarter of 2022 and outlined a 200 million-euro ($214.2 million) share buyback as it provided outlook for 2023.

The Dutch insurance and asset-management company
AEG,
+0.95%

AGN,
+5.44%

posted a net loss of 2.36 billion euros ($2.85 billion) for the three months to Dec. 31 compared with a net profit of EUR526 million a year earlier. A company-compiled consensus from 14 analysts’ estimates had on average expected a net loss of EUR1.30 billion.

The drop is partly due to impairment loss from classifying Aegon’s Dutch business as held for sale after its transaction with ASR Nederland NV.

The company’s operating result stood at EUR488 million compared with consensus of EUR434 million.

Its Solvency II ratio–a measure of balance-sheet strength–stood at 208%, compared with expectations of 206%.

The Dutch group declared a final dividend of EUR0.12 a share, bringing the full-year payout to EUR0.23.

It outlined a new EUR200 million share buyback which it will execute in the second half of 2023, it said.

For the full year, Aegon said it expects to deliver at least EUR1.0 billion operating capital generation from its units outside the Netherlands and to generate around EUR600 million free cash flow.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com