Shareholders' Equity

Shareholders' equity, a measure of assets minus liabilities, was $57.68 per share as of March 31, compared with $53.53 at the end of December. AIG published revised financial reports for prior periods last month to account for new rules that stipulate which costs related to acquiring and renewing insurance contracts can be capitalized.

AIG's U.S. life insurance and retirement services division posted pretax profit of $862 million, compared with a $967 million profit a year earlier. Premiums and other considerations declined about 13 percent to $5.6 billion.

Resurgent demand for mortgage-related assets and climbing equity markets boosted AIG's earnings and eased transactions that helped the insurer reduce obligations to the government. AIG raised about $6 billion by selling part of its stake in Hong Kong-based insurer AIA Group Ltd. on March 6. The next day, the Treasury said it was selling $6 billion of its AIG shares and that the bailed-out insurer had agreed to purchase half the offering. The stock sold for $29 a share, the same price as in the government's first offering, in 2011.

AIA Stake

The change in the fair value of AIA, including realized gains, added $1.8 billion to income.

AIG also struck a deal in March to retire $8.5 billion of the Treasury's interests in entities tied to the bailout. Part of the proceeds for that repayment came from the wind-down of a New York Fed-controlled fund called Maiden Lane II, which held mortgage-backed securities taken over in the rescue.

Another bailout fund, Maiden Lane III, holds mortgage investments that AIG had insured against losses. The New York Fed began divesting those assets last month in an auction. An increase in the value of AIG's stake in Maiden Lane III contributed $1.25 billion to earnings.

ILFC, United Guaranty

Selling the rest of Maiden Lane III, the remaining stake in AIA and plane-leasing unit International Lease Finance Corp. could generate funds for AIG to buy back additional shares, Josh Shanker, an analyst Deutsche Bank AG, said in a March note to clients. He estimated that asset sales and distributions from subsidiaries could allow the company to repurchase $15 billion to $20 billion of stock in the next year.