MetLife Inc does not meet Wall Street expectations

Third-quarter profit of MetLife Inc. missed Wall Street expectations, because of suffered $270 million (186.89 million EUR) losses from investments used to hedge its insurance portfolio.

Photo: MetLife Inc does not meet Wall Street expectations

Quarterly profit after paying preferred dividends fell to $985 million (681.8 million EUR), or $1.29 (.89 EUR) per share, from $999 million (691.49 million EUR), or $1.29 (.89 EUR) per share, in the same period a year earlier. MetLife had more shares outstanding in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose to $13.06 billion (9.04 billion EUR) from $12.53 billion (8.67 billion EUR) in the year-ago period.

Results missed Wall Street projections for a profit of $1.39 (.96 EUR) per share on revenue of $13.45 billion (9.31 billion EUR), according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

MetLife said it booked losses from its investment portfolio amid the market's turbulence. The company had net losses of $215 million (148.82 million EUR) from losses pinned on derivatives and other financial instruments, and $25 million (17.3 million EUR) from hedge fund positions.

The company did not break out further information about its investment portfolio.