MetLife Swings to Profit

MetLife Inc. reported it swung to a third-quarter profit as revenue rose despite lower premiums.

Source: WSJ - Patrick Thomas | Published on November 2, 2018

The New York insurance giant reported a profit of $880 million, or 88 cents a share, compared with a loss of $97 million, or 9 cents a share, a year ago. The company had a $968 million expense from discontinued operations a year ago that weighed on its bottom line.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.38 a share, ahead of expectations from analysts.

Revenue rose slightly to $16.29 billion from $16.17 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected $16.03 billion of revenue in the quarter. Premiums, fees and other revenues were $12.1 billion, down 4% from a year ago, but net investment income was up 4% for the period.

The company said the results were due to volume growth, favorable underwriting, expense management and increased investment income.