Aflac Takes $610 Million 2Q Loss On Sale Of European Securities

Insurer Aflac Inc. (AFL) said it will incur a loss of about $610 million in the second quarter as it continues to sell off investments in Europe that had been flagged as problematic by analysts and investors.

The majority of the loss, of $445 million before taxes, is on the sale of securities tied to Portuguese banks, the company said in a statement Thursday. The remaining $165 million are losses on investments in financial institutions in Greece and Ireland.

Aflac had previously disclosed a portion of the investment loss tied to Ireland.

The asset sales are part of Aflac's ongoing effort to unload some of its sovereign and bank debt from financially stressed regions, and reduce the size of the largest positions in its investment portfolio. The company sold off Greek debt in the first quarter.

Such investments have made some investors and analysts nervous in recent years, first amid the 2008 financial crisis and later when the European Union grappled with the mounting debts of Greece and other member nations last year.

But analysts have warned more recently that the asset sales will be a drag on earnings as the company takes losses on the securities it's unloading.

Chief Executive Officer Daniel Amos said in Thursday's statement that the effort to "de-risk" the company's investment portfolio will be completed by the end of the year.

-By Erik Holm, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2892; erik.holm@dowjones.com

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