Australian insurer AMP has reported one of the largest losses in the country's corporate history after a disastrous investment into the UK's life insurance market took its toll.

AMP lost 2.16bn Australian dollars ($1.4bn; �880m) in the first six months of the year, a radically different story from the A$303m profit made in the same period a year earlier.

The loss is largely due to a write-down of AMP's British assets, which include Pearl, NPI and London Life.

AMP's new chief executive Andrew Mohl admitted the firm's British acquisitions had been "ill-timed" and called the write-down "another step" in the firm's painful journey.

"We've carried too much risk in the balance sheet and paid too much for assets," Mr Mohl confessed.

Split

The beleaguered firm has come up with a rescue plan to demerge its Australian and British businesses.

But some analysts are concerned that the firm may not have enough money to complete the operation.

To add to the difficulties, Australia's corporate watchdog is investigating "unusual" share trades before AMP's announcement that it was demerging its British and Australian operations.

AMP's expansion into the UK financial services industry caused the company serious difficulties, pushing its share price 70% lower during the past year.

Billions of dollars had to be pumped into the UK units to keep their reserves above the minimum capital requirement of the British industry regulator.