Insurance group Aegon expects to post a €1.2bn loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 because of the ‘continued turmoil’ in the financial markets, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The loss is higher than analysts had expected. Aegon had a €3bn capital injection from the Dutch state last December.
To respond to the global financial crisis, Aegon is taking steps to reduce risk, lower costs and release more capital from the company’s businesses, the statement said.
But Aegon did not announce sweeping job losses as some analysts had forecast. According to the Financieele Dagblad, jobs will go but chairman Alex Wynaendts would not say how many. ‘We want to reduce costs by 5%, so that is a guideline,’ the paper quoted him as saying.
Aegon has a workforce of 32,000 worldwide, of whom 45% are employed in the US, the FD says.