GALVESTON, TX - American National Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANAT) (formerly American National Insurance Company)(1) and subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) announced net income for the third quarter of 2020 of $171.1 million or $6.36 per diluted share, compared to $92.2 million or $3.43 per diluted share for the same period in 2019. The increase in net income for the third quarter of 2020 was primarily attributable to an increase in after-tax net gain on equity securities due to favorable equity market conditions. This increase was partially offset by a reduction in net realized investment earnings due to fewer sales of real estate related assets in the third quarter of 2020. After-tax net gains on equity securities for the third quarter of 2020 were $120.1 million or $4.47 per diluted share compared to $6.8 million or $0.25 per diluted share for the same period in 2019. After-tax net realized investment earnings for the third quarter of 2020 were $23.6 million or $0.88 per diluted share, compared to $47.1 million or $1.75 per diluted share during the same period in 2019.
Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was $161.2 million or $5.99 per diluted share, down from net income of $449.2 million or $16.71 per diluted share for the same period in 2019. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 included an after-tax net gain on equity securities of $93.5 million or $3.48 per diluted share, down from $222.8 million or $8.29 per diluted share for the same period in 2019. The reduction in the net gain on equity securities was primarily driven by the first quarter downturn in financial markets resulting from the impacts of COVID-19. In addition, net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 included after-tax net realized investment losses of $47.8 million or $1.78 per diluted share, compared to after-tax net realized investment earnings of $89.1 million or $3.31 per diluted share for the same period in 2019. The after-tax net realized investment loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 included an expense of $82.3 million or $3.06 per diluted share due to changes in estimated credit losses resulting from our adoption of accounting guidance(2) which was not applicable in 2019. Also, earnings from unconsolidated affiliates decreased in 2020 from prior year due to reduced sales of real estate development entities and lower valuations on certain investment entities given current market conditions that have been impacted by COVID-19.
After-tax adjusted net operating income for the third quarter of 2020 was $27.4 million or $1.01 per diluted share compared to $38.3 million or $1.43 per diluted share for the same period in 2019. The decrease was driven by lower investment income and a reduction in earnings from our life business due to unfavorable mortality. This decrease was partially offset by an improvement in our property and casualty segment operating earnings resulting from an improvement in the combined ratio for our personal auto and agribusiness lines.
After-tax adjusted net operating income for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was $115.5 million or $4.29 per diluted share compared to $137.3 million or $5.11 per diluted share for the same period in 2019. As well as the third quarter impacts discussed above, the decline in year-over-year earnings was also impacted by lower earnings from our annuity business reflecting spread compression and an unfavorable change in mark-to-market reserves on our indexed annuity products.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2020, total life insurance in force increased by $7.4 billion to $125.5 billion, and book value per share increased $5.86 to $228.60.
(1) Effective July 1, 2020, American National Group, Inc. was established as the parent company of American National Insurance Company under a previously announced holding company reorganization. As a result of the reorganization, American National Group, Inc. replaced American National Insurance Company as the publicly held corporation.
(2) Effective January 1, 2020, the Company adopted ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.
A reconciliation of adjusted net operating income, a non-GAAP measure, to GAAP net income is included in the following table.
American National Consolidated Financial Highlights
(Preliminary & Unaudited in millions, except per share data)