Dutch insurer Aegon NV (AEG, AGN.L) posted a surge in fourth-quarter net income to 422 million euros, from 81 million euros a year ago, driven by higher underlying earnings, realized gains on investments, lower impairments and book gains on divestments.
Underlying earnings before tax of 447 million euros for the quarter, were higher than last year's 346 million euros, resulting from a strong delivery on cost reduction programs, the non-recurrence of exceptional charges in the UK and favorable equity markets and currency movements.
Quarterly sales reached 1.81 billion euros, a substantial increase from 1.41 billion euros in the prior-year quarter. New life sales grew strongly in many markets, most notably in the Netherlands and the UK where higher pension production was driven by a strong market proposition and the introduction of the Retail Distribution Review respectively.
At the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 15, 2013, the Supervisory Board would propose a final dividend for 2012 of 0.11 euros per share, which would be paid in cash or stocks at the election of the shareholder. The value of the stock dividend would be nearly equal to the cash dividend.
If the proposed dividend is approved by shareholders, Aegon shares would be quoted ex-dividend on May 17, 2013. The record date for the dividend would be May 21, 2013. The election period would run from May 23 up to and including June 7, 2013. The dividend would be payable as of June 14, 2013.
In addition, Aegon and Vereniging Aegon have signed a deal to cancel all of Aegon's preferred shares, of which the Association is the sole owner. The deal would result in a simplified capital structure for Aegon while enabling the company to maintain a high-quality capital base under new European solvency requirements, and allowing the Association to substantially reduce its debt.
Pursuant to the agreement, all of Aegon's preferred shares would be exchanged for cash and common shares. The value of all preferred shares, which have a book value of 2.1 billion euros, has been determined at 1.1 billion euros. The Association would receive 400 million euros from Aegon in cash and the equivalent of 655 million euros in shares in addition to a total of 83 million euros of dividends on the preferred shares.
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