AEGON Announces EUR 1 Billion Share Repurchase
09 August 2007 - 6:50PM
PR Newswire (US)
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, August 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- -
AEGON (LSE:AGNLSE:NYSE:AEG) Plans to Repurchase EUR 1 Billion Worth
of its Common Shares Between now and the end of 2007 - EUR 500
Million Will be Repurchased Through an Agreement Signed Today;
AEGON Plans to Repurchase Another EUR 500 Million Worth of Shares
Before the end of 2007 - Share Repurchases Will Form an Integral
Part of AEGON's Overall Capital Management Strategy - AEGON Expects
More Efficient use of Capital Over the Medium Term, Driven by a
Shift in Product mix to Less Capital Intensive Products, and
Application of the Group's Internal Market Consistent Framework -
Additional Returns of Surplus Capital to Shareholders Will not
Affect AEGON's Current Investment Plans for its Businesses,
Including Possible add-on Acquisitions - Interim Dividend for 2007
Increased by 25% to EUR 0.30 per Common Share AEGON announces that
it will start repurchasing common shares as part of its overall
capital management strategy. A share repurchase program totalling
EUR 1 billion has been authorized for 2007. Today, AEGON has
entered into an agreement with a third party under which AEGON has
irrevocably committed itself to purchasing EUR 500 million worth of
shares before December 14, 2007. AEGON plans to carry out one or
more other transactions to complete EUR 1 billion worth of
repurchases in total before the end of this year. AEGON will seek
approval from its shareholders at the next Annual General Meeting
to cancel all common shares repurchased as part of this program.
Based on the total program value of EUR 1 billion, the number of
common shares to be repurchased under this program will be
approximately 74 million, using the closing share price of August
8, 2007. This represents 4.5% of AEGON's issued and outstanding
common shares and 3.4% of AEGON's total issued and outstanding
share capital. Under today's agreement, AEGON will repurchase
shares at the average of the daily volume weighted average prices
minus a discount. AEGON will publish details on a weekly basis of
all transactions carried out under this program. In recent years,
AEGON has achieved significant growth in its value of new business.
At the same time, the Group's existing operations have shown
healthy capital generation, primarily as a result of benign world
financial markets, while opportunities for significant
value-enhancing acquisitions have been limited. AEGON's share
repurchase program will not affect the Group's organic growth, nor
will it limit AEGON's ability to carry out value-enhancing add-on
acquisitions in the future. A number of developments are allowing
AEGON to adopt a more proactive and efficient approach to capital
management over the medium term. AEGON's recent strong financial
performance has been paired with a shift to less capital-intensive
businesses, particularly in the Group's North American operations.
At the same time, the market for securitizations of life insurance
portfolios has developed more attractive pricing characteristics,
making securitization a potentially more effective capital
management tool. With increased hedging of market risks and the
application of the Group's own internal Market Consistent
Framework, AEGON believes its business will become increasingly
more capital efficient in the medium term. AEGON is also announcing
today an increase of its interim dividend for 2007 to EUR 0.30 per
common share. In line with its stated policy, AEGON aims to further
increase dividend payments to shareholders in the years ahead,
subject to continued strong cash flows and a solid capital
position. Share repurchases will form an integral part of AEGON's
overall capital management strategy. AEGON expects that the
introduction of this additional capital management tool will have a
positive effect on its net (underlying) operating earnings per
share in the future. Forward looking statements The statements
contained in this press release that are not historical facts may
be forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 'believe',
'estimate', 'target', 'intend', 'may', 'expect', 'anticipate',
'predict', 'project', 'counting on', 'plan', 'continue', 'want',
'forecast', 'should', 'would', 'is confident' and 'will' and
similar expressions as they relate to us are intended to identify
such forward-looking statements. These statements are not
guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties
and assumptions that are difficult to predict. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their
dates. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from expectations, including, but not limited to, the
following: - Changes in general economic conditions, particularly
in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; -
Changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging
markets, including: - The frequency and severity of defaults by
issuers in our fixed income investment portfolios; and - The
effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on
the financial markets and the resulting decline in value of equity
and debt securities we hold; - The frequency and severity of
insured loss events; - Changes affecting mortality, morbidity and
other factors that may affect the profitability of our insurance
products; - Changes affecting interest rate levels and continuing
low interest rate levels and rapidly changing interest rate levels;
- Changes affecting currency exchange rates, including the EUR/USD
and EUR/GBP exchange rates; - Increasing levels of competition in
the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and emerging
markets; - Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those
affecting our operations, the products we sell and the
attractiveness of certain products to our consumers; - Regulatory
changes relating to the insurance industry in the jurisdictions in
which we operate; - Acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and
pandemics; - Changes in the policies of central banks and/or
governments; - Litigation or regulatory action that could require
us to pay significant damages or change the way we do business; -
Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution
channels; - Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that
affect the distribution cost of or demand for our products; - Our
failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational
efficiencies as well as other cost saving initiatives; - The impact
on our reported financial results and financial condition as a
result of our adoption of International Financial Reporting
Standards. ABOUT AEGON AEGON is one of the world's largest life
insurance and pension companies, and a strong provider of
investment products. AEGON empowers local business units to
identify and provide products and services that meet the evolving
needs of customers, using distribution channels best suited to
local markets. AEGON takes pride in balancing a local approach with
the power of an expanding global operation. With headquarters in
The Hague, the Netherlands, AEGON companies employ approximately
29,000 people worldwide. AEGON's businesses serve millions of
customers in over twenty markets throughout the Americas, Europe,
and Asia, with major operations in the United States, the
Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Respect, quality, transparency
and trust constitute AEGON's core values as the company continually
strives to meet the expectations of customers, shareholders,
employees and business partners. AEGON is driven to deliver new
thinking with the ambition to be the best in the industry. Media
conference call A media conference call on the second quarter 2007
results and the share buyback will be held this morning at 08.15
hrs CET. This conference call and Q&A session can be followed
simultaneously via an audio webcast on AEGON's website
http://www.aegon.com/. Analyst and investor conference call An
analyst and investor conference call on the second quarter 2007
results and the share buyback will be held today at 15.00 hrs CET
(London 14.00 hrs, New York 09.00 hrs.) The listen-only phone
numbers for the conference call are as follows: The Netherlands:
+31-20-796-5332 United Kingdom: +44-208-515-2301 United States and
Canada: +1-303-262-2137 The conference call and Q&A session can
be followed simultaneously via an audio webcast on AEGON's website
http://www.aegon.com/. Contact Information: Group Corporate Affairs
& Investor Relations: The Hague, The Netherlands: Analysts
& Investors: +31-(0)70-344-83-05 Media: +31-(0)70-344-83-44
E-mail: Baltimore, The United States: Analysts & Investors:
+1-877-548-9668 (toll free) / +1-410-576-45-77 E-mail: DATASOURCE:
AEGON N.V. CONTACT: Contact Information: Group Corporate Affairs
& Investor Relations: The Hague, The Netherlands: Analysts
& Investors: +31-(0)70-344-83-05, Media: +31-(0)70-344-83-44,
E-mail: ; Baltimore, The United States: Analysts & Investors:
+1-877-548-9668 (toll free) / +1-410-576-45-77, E-mail:
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