NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc earned $11.2 billion in the fourth quarter on asset sales, though it still lost billions on an operating basis when excluding those deals.
AIG said it earned $11.18 billion, or $16.60 per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $8.87 billion, or $65.51 per share.
Stripping out the gains from asset sales, AIG said it lost $2.21 billion on an operating basis, worse than the $1.34 billion it lost on the same basis a year earlier.
AIG said property insurer Chartis lost billions after a move to add to its reserves to cover losses for past years on asbestos and other claims. Excluding those reserve additions, business was flat.
The company's domestic life insurance unit, SunAmerica, had a better quarter. Variable annuity and life insurance sales both rose sharply over last year, in part as the company started to get better distribution from brokers more confident it will remain in business in future.
AIG shares rose 2.8 percent to $41.57 following its earnings report, after closing at $40.43 on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Gary Hill)
