AIG posts $2.4 bn loss amid restructuring

NEW YORK: US government-rescued insurer American International Group said on Friday it lost 2.4 billion dollars in the third quarter, led by restructuring charges.

AIG said it took 4.5 billion dollars in restructuring-related charges, including the sale of assets to raise money to pay back aid from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY).

The government-controlled company had posted a net profit of 455 million dollars in the 2009 third quarter.

AIG, once the world's largest insurer, received more than 180 billion dollars from the government two years ago to help cover investments that disappeared amid the collapse of a US real-estate bubble.

The Treasury Department said this week that AIG was poised to repay 36.7 billion dollars in government bailout aid after floating its Asian unit AIA and selling American Life Insurance Company.

"We will continue with our aggressive plan to close pending transactions in order to repay the FRBNY in full, and provide for the exit of US Treasury ownership over time," Robert Benmosche, AIG president and chief executive, said in a statement.