Accounting errors and the pain of taking a financial hit to set the record straight haven’t hurt American International Group (AIG) too much. The company has reported a second-quarter net income of $US3.99 billion – a 51% rise thanks mainly to surging Asian life business results.

It was the first full quarter under new CEO Martin Sullivan, who took over in March after Maurice “Hank” Greenberg was forced to quit as a result of investigations into financial reinsurance deals.

The boost in profit was helped by accounting gains and a strong performance in the company’s consumer finance and foreign life insurance businesses.