While most others are now enjoying improved, if not successful numbers, American International Group Inc., reported a bigger-than-expected loss for the year's fourth-quarter, after setting aside more reserves for insurance claims and paying down bailout debts. On the news, shares of the company declined by 10%.

Although the loss of $8.87 Billion, or $65.51 per share, had managed to narrow from last year's figure of $61.7 Billion, or $458.99 a share, when AIG posted the biggest ever loss in history of corporate America, it was a disappointment at a time when all industries are coming out of recession.

"It was a messy quarter, and overall it shows you how deep a hole they've dug, and how hard it is for them to dig out. The reserve boost is a little red flag, as the industry is seeing largely favorable trends in reserve development", said Bill Bergman, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. in Chicago.

The biggest challenge that the company is now facing is the repayment of loans, which the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche would now have to work AIG out of.

On a yearly basis, loss of the firm narrowed from 2008's figure of $99.3 Billion to $10.9 Billion in 2009.

So is it now safe to say that AIG is out of the woods? Maybe, maybe not. "While we are not out of the woods by any stretch, these numbers represent a substantial improvement from just one year ago. We believe we are on our way to regaining our stature as one of the world's largest and most successful property-casualty insurance operations", said Benmoche.