Athene’s 2019 Third Quarter Financial Results
Athene Holding Ltd, a leading provider of retirement savings products, has announced its financial results for the third quarter 2019.
The company said, “”Net income available to AHL common shareholders for the third quarter 2019 was $276 million, or $1.50 per diluted Class A common share [diluted share], compared to net income available to AHL common shareholders for the third quarter 2018 of $623 million, or $3.15 per diluted common share.
“The decrease from the prior year quarter was primarily driven by an unfavorable change in the value of FIA embedded derivatives, due to the impact of unfavorable unlocking from the annual actuarial assumption review, less favorable equity market performance, and an unfavorable change in discount rates. The decrease was also driven by lower adjusted operating income.
“Adjusted operating income available to common shareholders1 for the third quarter 2019 was $243 million, or $1.34 per adjusted operating common share, compared to adjusted operating income available to common shareholders for the third quarter 2018 of $371 million, or $1.90 per adjusted operating common share.
“The decrease from the prior year quarter was primarily driven by an increase in cost of funds due to continued growth in the business including institutional products, as well as unfavorable equity market and adverse unlocking impacts.”
“In the third quarter we delivered record organic growth underwritten to a blended unlevered return in excess of 20%, which drove our invested assets to new heights exceeding $120 billion. Athene remains uniquely positioned with a multi-channel distribution model that generates sustainable and opportunistic growth at attractive ROEs,” said Jim Belardi, CEO of Athene.
Mr. Belardi continued, “We are executing our business strategy and allocating capital to create value for shareholders. To enhance our operating model, we are focused on building an array of asset sourcing capabilities and the pending transaction with PK AirFinance is supportive of this effort. By sourcing a greater quantity of alpha-generating securities while maintaining underwriting discipline, we will reinforce our competitive advantage of generating attractive levels of net spread and profitability.
“In addition, we continue to opportunistically repurchase our shares at high-teens returns, repurchasing a total of $927 million at an average price of less than 90% of adjusted book value per share. With our recent authorization increase of $600 million, our Board has authorized nearly $1.6 billion of share repurchases in less than twelve months.
“Finally, our recently announced strategic transaction with our longstanding partner, Apollo, will eliminate Athene’s multi-class share structure, enhance our index inclusion eligibility, and increase the appeal of our stock to a broader set of active and passive investors.”
