By Maarten van Tartwijk
AMSTERDAM--Aegon NV (AGN.AE) on Thursday reported a sharp rise
in fourth-quarter net profit as it benefited from robust sales,
higher investment returns and the stronger dollar.
The Dutch insurer, which generates most of its revenue in the
U.S. through its Transamerica unit, said net profit was 399 million
euros ($454.3 million) in the final three months of 2014, compared
with a EUR157 million profit a year earlier.
Underlying pretax profit, which strips out investment gains,
rose 19% to EUR562 million, beating analyst forecasts.
Aegon declared a final dividend of EUR0.12 a share, bringing the
total dividend over 2014 to EUR0.23 a share.
Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at
maarten.vantartwijk@dowjones.com
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