Amid the housing slump and credit freeze, insurance giant American International Group disclosed a loss of $7.81 billion in the first quarter and released plans to raise $12.5 billion.

AIG (AIG), which is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, was slammed by more credit-related writedowns. The company lost $3.09 per share, compared to a profit of $1.58 a year ago.

On an adjusted-bases, AIG said it lost $1.41 per share, close to twice the amount Wall Street expected. First-quarter revenue fell sharply to $14 billion, compared to $30.6 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been looking for a loss of 76 cents per share on $31.03 billion in revenue.

As many financial companies have done since the credit crisis began last year, AIG announced plans to raise $12.5 billion to help its balance sheet, mostly through a common stock offering of $7.5 billion.

AIG was hit by $9.11 billion in writedowns on its credit default swap portfolio, which has been hammered by the freeze in the credit markets. The company’s investment portfolio, which includes mortgage-related securities, reported a loss of $6.09 billion

Earlier this year AIG revealed a $5 billion loss in its fourth quarter on writedowns, sending its share price nearly 15% lower over the following week.

AIG also announced Thursday it is increasing its quarterly dividend by 10% to 22 cents as of Sept. 5. The insurer will also begin looking for a replacement for Chief Financial Officer Steven Bensinger, who will take over as vice chairman of financial services.