THE HAGUE, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Aegon had an increase of income in the first half year of 2019, the Dutch provider of life insurance, pensions and asset management announced on Thursday.
The net income increased to 618 million euros (689 million U.S. dollars) in the first half, compared to 491 million euros in the same period last year.
The income rise was, according to Aegon, driven by realized gains and lower other charges and partly offset by a higher loss on fair value items.
"In a turbulent first half of 2019, market movements had a negative impact on the capital position in the Netherlands,"said CEO Alex Wynaendts in a press release. "We have, however, maintained a strong Group Solvency II ratio (the ratio of eligible own funds to required own funds)."
The underlying earnings of Aegon decreased by 5 percent to 1.010 billion euros in the first half of 2019, compared to 1.064 billion euros in H1 of 2018. According to Aegon this reflected lower fee income as a result of lower average asset balances in the United States, and investments in the business to support growth.
"We are focused on expanding our customer base and strengthening customer retention," Wynaendts said. "It is encouraging that new plan written sales in the US retirement business increased significantly and that gross deposits were up in most of our businesses."
