AMERICAN FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES EXHIBIT 12 - COMPUTATION OF RATIOS OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES AND FIXED CHARGES AND PREFERRED DIVIDENDS (Dollars in Thousands) Year Ended December 31, 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 Pretax income $209,563 $322,563 $304,651 $253,449 $ 26,376 Minority interest in subsidiaries having fixed charges (*) 45,120 45,098 52,838 27,076 8,565 Less undistributed equity in (earnings) losses of investees 17,997 10,363 31,353 (1,559) 49,010 Fixed charges: Interest expense 73,868 88,402 88,144 124,633 114,803 Debt discount (premium) and expense (631) (701) (1,174) (1,023) 1,240 One-third of rentals 11,883 10,152 9,279 9,471 5,119 EARNINGS $357,800 $475,877 $485,091 $412,047 $205,113 Fixed charges: Interest expense $ 73,868 $ 88,402 $ 88,144 $124,633 $114,803 Debt discount (premium) and expense (631) (701) (1,174) (1,023) 1,240 One-third of rentals 11,883 10,152 9,279 9,471 5,119 Accrued distribution of subsidiary trust preferred subsidiaries 19,031 15,499 1,031 - - FIXED CHARGES $104,151 $113,352 $ 97,280 $133,081 $121,162 Fixed charges and preferred dividends: Fixed charges - per above $104,151 $113,352 $ 97,280 $133,081 $121,162 Preferred dividends 9,403 21,967 25,190 25,376 25,709 FIXED CHARGES AND PREFERRED DIVIDENDS $113,554 $135,319 $122,470 $158,457 $146,871 Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges 3.44 4.20 4.99 3.10 1.69 Earnings in Excess of Fixed Charges $253,649 $362,525 $387,811 $278,966 $ 83,951 Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges and Preferred Dividends 3.15 3.52 3.96 2.60 1.40 Earnings in Excess of Fixed Charges and Preferred Dividends $244,246 $340,558 $362,621 $253,590 $ 58,242 (*)Amounts include accrued distributions on trust preferred securities. E-2