With investment write-downs and divestment charges still delivering blows to the distraught insurance biggie American International Group Inc. (AIG), the government-controlled company recently reported a rather surprising $9 billion loss in the fourth quarter; with its total loss of the year being $11 billion.

Despite the fact that the quarterly loss figures of AIG were substantially lower than its same-quarter earlier year mammoth loss figures of $62 billion, the shares of the insurer fell 7.4 percent to $25.38. Furthermore, the company was not much positive about the value of its share price, of which $49.6 billion worth of preferred stock is controlled by the government.

Commenting on the not-so-encouraging AIG report, Nomura Securities analyst David Havens said: “While there are a few shafts of encouraging light, the results overall were murkier and messier than the market overall expected.”

Meanwhile, the AIG chief executive Robert H. Benmosche has drawn attention to the company progress towards reinforcing the insurance business and diminishing exposures in the financial-products unit - the division that largely brought about the company’s deterioration.

Ever since his August-last-year appointment as the insurer’s CEO, Benmosche has been trying to bring up AIG as “a smaller and more-focused company,” stressing chiefly on the company’s global general insurance business; its life insurance and retirement services operations in the US; and a few foreign life insurance divisions.