Dutch insurer Aegon to launch 200 mln euro share buy-back in July
Adds CEO quote in paragraph 3, shares in 4, details on ASR stake in 5 and 11, US capital generation in 7, outlook in 8
By Gaelle Sheehan and Mathias de Rozario
May 16 (Reuters) -Dutch insurer Aegon AEGN.AS said it plans to buy back 200 million euros ($218 million) worth its own shares, after it reported a slight miss in first-quarter operating capital generation on Thursday.
"We believe that we have cash that we're holding in excess of what we need to transform the company," CEO Lard Friese told Reuters in an interview.
The company expects to carry out the buy-back programme between July and the end of the year.
Its shares were 1% higher at 0727 GMT.
Aegon has been divesting assets over the past year to focus more on its U.S. business. That included the sale of its Dutch insurance operations to ASR Nederland ASRNL.AS, in which it holds a 29.9% stake.
Its operating capital generation before holding funding and operating expenses fell to 256 million euros in the first quarter from 292 million a year earlier. Analysts had forecast 260 million euros, a poll provided by the company showed.
Nearly 60% of that capital was generated in the U.S., where Aegon operates under the Transamerica brand.
Aegon said it was on track to meet its 2024 guidance for an operating capital generation of around 1.1 billion euros.
It posted a U.S. risk-based capital ratio - a key metric of an insurer's financial health calculated by dividing its total adjusted capital by risk-weighted assets - of 441% for the quarter, slightly below the 443% expected by analysts.
Aegon did not report a group solvency ratio to align itself with ASR, which does not provide a trading update for the first quarter.
Friese said Aegon would hold on to the ASR stake until it believes the share price reflects the company's intrinsic value, or until it requires the capital for "other value creating opportunities".
Aegon also said Duncan Russell would replace retiring Matt Rider as its chief financial officer in September.
($1 = 0.9190 euros)
Reporting by Gaëlle Sheehan and Mathias de Rozario in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi
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