AIG 1st-quarter loss narrows to $4.35 billion

American International Group Inc. posted a first-quarter loss Thursday of $4.35 billion, down from a $7.81-billion loss a year earlier -- a rare moment of good news for a company that has been beleaguered by poor performance and public outrage in recent months.

The New York insurance giant has posted red numbers for six straight quarters, but Thursday’s news came with a silver lining: After being bailed out four times since September, during which time the government’s rescue package ballooned to more than $180 billion, AIG said it didn’t need additional taxpayer money. At least not for now.

“We are making good progress in stabilizing the business,” Chief Executive Edward M. Liddy said in a conference call. AIG owes the government about $45.5 billion that it has drawn from a $60-billion Federal Reserve credit line. Liddy has said the company intends to pay back “every penny.”

AIG executives said the company’s first-quarter losses were due largely to restructuring costs associated with winding down its Financial Products unit, whose faulty derivatives contracts had brought AIG to the brink of collapse, as well as costs connected to AIG’s credit line with the Fed.

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Dennis writes for the Washington Post.