NEW YORK (Bloomberg)—American International Group Inc. CEO Robert Benmosche said the insurer’s net income of $1.45 billion in the first three months of 2010 is a sign of progress at the bailed-out company.

“First-quarter results show you that our operating companies are performing well, and you can see that across the board,” Benmosche said Wednesday at AIG’s annual shareholder meeting in New York. “We’re seeing better retention of our business, better retention of our employees, and you see our customers are coming back as our sales are going up.”

Benmosche, 65, took charge in August of a company reeling from almost $100 billion in 2008 net losses. AIG shares have gained about 43% this year through Tueday as it struck deals to sell two divisions for about $51 billion to help repay the bailout and posted the first-quarter profit, which compares with a loss of $4.35 billion in the year-earlier period.

“The key is to make sure we have shareholder value at the end of the day,” Benmosche said. Shareholders are “the lowest in the capital structure, so therefore if we have shareholder value, all of our obligations will be met, and that is the key.”

Investors had reason to give Benmosche a warmer reception than previous leaders of AIG, once the world’s largest insurer by assets. The company had plunged 95% in the year leading up to the 2009 meeting, when former CEO Edward Liddy spoke. In 2008, the shares had fallen 46% before Martin Sullivan’s meeting. The company advanced 41 cents to $43.30 at 10:40 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

The U.S. government owns about 80% of AIG, a stake it took after rescuing the firm in September 2008. Fairholme Capital Management, the investment firm run by Bruce Berkowitz, has the second-largest stake. Berkowitz raised his bet on AIG’s recovery by increasing holdings to 25.5 million shares, according to a filing this week.

In audio remarks to investors released last week, Benmosche cited the first-quarter profit as evidence the firm is stabilizing after housing market losses forced it into a 2008 government rescue. Investment income surged on gains in private equity and hedge fund holdings, and write-downs on securities narrowed to $309 million from about $3.7 billion a year earlier, AIG said last week.

Benmosche is AIG’s fourth CEO since Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, who ran the insurer for almost four decades, left the company in 2005. Sullivan then held the top post for three years, followed by Robert Willumstad, who was CEO for about three months until the government appointed Liddy in 2008 as part of the rescue.

AIG’s rescue includes a $60 billion Federal Reserve credit line, a Treasury Department investment of as much as $69.8 billion and up to $52.5 billion to buy mortgage-linked assets owned or backed by the company.