American International Group lost $4 billion in the last three months of 2012 as the insurer absorbed costs related to damage caused by Superstorm Sandy and the sale of its airplane leasing unit.

AIG posted an operating profit that was better than analysts were expecting, however, and its stock rose in after-hours trading. It was the first financial report for the bailed-out insurer since the government sold off the last of its stake in the company in December.

The New York-based company became a household name after it received a $182 billion bailout package from the government at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. The company nearly imploded by making huge bets on mortgage investments that later went wrong.