Corebridge Operating Earnings Per Share Climb 27% To $1.22 As Premiums And Deposits Fall 29%
Net income reached $1.4 billion on realized gains, while premiums and deposits dropped to $8.8 billion in the third quarter.
Corebridge Financial, which provides retirement products and life insurance in the United States, said operating earnings per share rose 27% to $1.22 in the third quarter, from $0.96 a year earlier. Premiums and deposits fell 29% to $8.8 billion, the company reported Monday.
A $1.4 billion profit built on realized gains
Net income available to common shareholders hit $1.4 billion, or $3.22 a share, against $144 million, or $0.27, in the year-earlier quarter. The company said the jump came largely from favorable net realized gains, including Fortitude Re funds-withheld embedded derivatives and changes in the fair value of market risk benefits. Return on average equity was 70.3%, versus 4.5% a year earlier.
On the adjusted measure, which strips those items out, after-tax operating income was $545 million, up from $520 million. Adjusted return on average equity was 12.1%, up from 10.3%. Diluted shares outstanding fell to 447 million from 541 million.
Adjusted pre-tax operating income rose 4% to $677 million. Excluding variable investment income and notable items, it fell 9%, which the company attributed to lower base spread income and higher expenses, partly offset by higher fee income. The annual actuarial assumption update cut it by $99 million, against a $98 million cut a year earlier.
Sales slide, with Institutional Markets leading
Premiums and deposits fell to $8.8 billion from $12.3 billion. Excluding pension risk transfer, guaranteed investment contracts and Group Retirement plan acquisitions, they declined 19%, mainly on weaker fixed index annuity sales, partly offset by higher deposits in registered index-linked annuities and out-of-plan fixed annuities.
Institutional Markets deposits fell 59% to $1.7 billion on lower pension risk transfer premiums and fewer new guaranteed investment contract issuances, though its adjusted pre-tax operating income rose 48% to $198 million on higher variable investment income. Individual Retirement, the largest business, saw premiums and deposits fall 19% to $4.5 billion, while its operating income rose 3% to $466 million. Group Retirement operating income fell 11% to $164 million.
Core sources of income, the sum of base spread, fee income and underwriting margin, rose 2% to $1.5 billion.
Buybacks, liquidity and the Equitable merger
Corebridge returned $295 million to shareholders, $185 million in repurchases and $110 million in dividends. Holding company liquidity was $2.2 billion, including $750 million of pre-funded debt maturing in April 2027. It declared a $0.25 per share dividend payable December 31 to holders of record on December 17.
CEO Marc Costantini said the company is advancing regulatory approvals for its merger with Equitable, and pointed to more than $100 million of expense synergies already identified. Corebridge manages or administers assets of $386.4 billion as of December 31, 2025, per its annual report.
The company hosts a call Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. EST to review the results.
Costantini called it the strongest quarter for annuity sales this year, even as total premiums and deposits fell 29% from the prior-year quarter.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — Corebridge Financial, Inc. (CRBG) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit corebridgefinancial-pressr.htm — Corebridge Financial, Inc. 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
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