AMSTERDAM_Aegon NV, the Dutch insurer, reported a ?llion ($229 million) loss for the second quarter on Thursday due to impairment charges and announced plans to issue up to ?ion ($1.42 billion) in new shares.

In the same period a year earlier, the company had net profit of ?llion. The 2009 loss included ?llion in impairment charges, mostly on investments related to the U.S. housing market, and a ?llion loss from the sale of the Taiwanese activities.

Stripping out those losses, operating earnings in the quarter would have been ?llion ($528.54 million), the company said, versus ?llion in earnings a year ago and better than a ?llion loss in the first quarter of 2009.

It said it planned the share issue in order to repay part of the ?ion in bailout money it received from the Dutch state last year.

The company's CEO Alex Wynaendts said the company had "solid retail sales in the United States," where the bulk of its business is located.

Aegon said its solvency ratio _ the common measure of an insurance company's health _ increased to 202 percent from 170 percent at the end of the first quarter.

It said it would not pay an interim dividend in order to preserve capital.