Principal Financial Group Inc. announced earnings guidance for fiscal 2010. For the period the company expect to see losses in 2010 probably greater than in 2009, but not much.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2009. For the third quarter, the company reported net income available to common stockholders for the quarter ended September 30 2009, of $184.7 million or $0.57 per diluted share compared to $90.1 million or $0.35 per diluted share for the quarter ended September 30, 2008. The company reported operating earnings of $238.7 million for third quarter 2009, compared to $251.2 million for third quarter 2008. Operating earnings per diluted share for third quarter 2009 were $0.74 compared to $0.96 for the same period in 2008. The decline in operating earnings from a year ago reflects a number of items, including lower average assets under management (AUM), higher costs for employee pension and other post-retirement benefits, lower investment income and unfavorable foreign currency movements. Total revenues for the period were $2.27 million compared to $2.49 million for the same period previous year. Income before income taxes for the period was $248.3 million and net investment income was $853.3 million compared to income before income taxes of $106.5 million and net investment income was $1,079.7 million for the same period previous year. For the nine months of fiscal 2009, the company reported net income available to common stockholders of $447.8 million or $1.54 per share on total revenue of $6,616.7 million compared to net income available to common stockholders of $432.6 million or $1.66 per share on total revenue of $7,656.6 million for the same period in fiscal 2008. The company reported operating earnings of $603.2 million or $2.07 per share compared to $251.2 million or $2.92 per share for the same period in 2008. Income before income taxes for the period was $576.3 million and net investment income was $2,541.9 million compared to income before income taxes of $526.2 million and net investment income of $3,030.9 million for the same period previous year. Book value per common share for the period was $21.85 compared to $19.56 for the same period previous year. The company recorded net impairment losses on available-for-sale securities for the quarter of $117.2 million compared to $209.7 million for the same period previous year.

Principal Financial Group Inc. announced that The Principal(R) and Banco do Brasil S.A. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding related to BrasilPrev Seguros e Previdencia S.A., their pension and long-term asset accumulation joint venture in Brazil. Under the terms of the Memorandum, and following completion of all necessary approvals and transactions, BrasilPrev will have, for 23 years the exclusive right to manufacture and distribute pension and other long-term asset accumulation products within the Banco do Brasil network. Other key elements of the Memorandum include: Co-management of the joint venture, with The Principal owning 50.01% of BrasilPrev common stock and Banco do Brasil owning 49.99%; Economic interests of 25.005% to The Principal and 74.995% to Banco do Brasil; and The intent to negotiate BrasilPrev's acquisition of the pension portfolio of Mapfre Nossa Caixa.