NEW YORK (Reuters) - MetLife , the largest U.S. life insurer, on Thursday posted a quarterly net loss of $1.4 billion, as investment losses left its balance sheet in the red for the second consecutive quarter.
But the New York-based insurer's operating earnings, which excluded the investment losses, were better than expected, helped by stronger premium and fee income.
MetLife's net loss was equal to $1.74 a share, compared with a profit of $915 million, $1.26 a share, a year ago.
The loss included after-tax realized losses of $2.6 billion -- $1.8 billion of which stemmed from losses on derivatives. Derivatives are a type of structured investment tied to the value of underlying assets.
MetLife said the write-downs were consistent with its expectations.
Life insurers such as MetLife and its next biggest rival, Prudential Financial
Excluding the losses, MetLife's operating earnings were $723 million, or 88 cents a share, compared with $887 million, or $1.22 a share, in the year-ago period.
Analysts on average expected MetLife to post operating earnings of 68 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Premiums, fees and other revenue rose 6 percent to $8.4 billion in the quarter, but net investment income fell 10 percent to $3.9 billion.
Shares closed up 4 percent at $33.57 on Thursday but were down about 1.4 percent in post-market trading.
(Reporting by Lilla Zuill; Editing Bernard Orr)
