AIG is reporting net income of $1.45 billion for the first quarter as markets stabilized and the insurance giant avoided cutting the value of its assets.

Improving credit and stock markets have helped the insurer avoid major write-downs that led it to be bailed out by the government during the credit crisis. AIG received a bailout package worth nearly $180 billion.

The New York insurer said Friday it earned $2.16 per share in the January-March period. That contrats with a net loss of $4.35 billion, or $39.67 per share, a year earlier.

Earnings attributable to common shareholders totaled $294 million during the first quarter. Shareholders' portion of the quarterly profit is smaller because the government received an 80 percent stake in AIG as part of the bailout package.