MetLife (MET) Q2 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Increase Y/Y
MetLife, Inc.’s MET second-quarter 2019 operating earnings of $1.38 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.34%. The bottom line rose 6.2% year over year. Earnings benefited from lower expenses, partly offset by decline in revenues.
Behind the Headlines
The company generated operating revenues of $16.5 billion, down 22% year over year, and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.25%.
Adjusted premiums, fees & other revenues, excluding pension risk transfer, grew 4% year over year to $11.3 billion. Net investment income of $4.55 billion increased 5.2% year over year.
Total expenses of $14.7 million were down 25% year over year due to lower policyholder benefits and claims, and interest expenses.
Book value per share was $37.09, up 11.6% year over year.
MetLife, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
MetLife, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | MetLife, Inc. Quote
Quarterly Segment Details
United States
Adjusted earnings in this segment increased 9% year over year to $732 million, driven by volume growth, lower expenses and favorable underwriting. Adjusted premiums, fees & other revenues were $6.2 billion, up 6% year over year.
Asia
Operating earnings of $359 million were down 1% (up 2% on constant-currency basis) year over year, driven by volume growth, partly offset by less favorable underwriting. Adjusted premiums, fees & other revenues were $2.1 billion, flat year over year (up 2% on constant-currency basis).
Latin America
Operating earnings were $159 million, up 10% (and 18% at constant currency) year over year, driven by capital markets and volume growth.
Adjusted premiums, fees & other revenues were $1.1 billion, up 9% (up 15% at constant currency), primarily driven by higher annuity sales in Chile.
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
Operating earnings from EMEA decreased 10% (flat on constant-currency basis) year over year to $77 million, driven by investment margins, favorable underwriting, and volume growth that were offset by the impact of favorable expense margins in the prior-year period.
Adjusted premiums, fees & other revenues were $669 million, down 1% year over year but up 5% at constant currency.
MetLife Holdings
Adjusted operating earnings from MetLife Holdings came in at $299 million, up 7% year over year.
Operating premiums, fees & other revenues were $1.3 billion, down 4% year over year.
Zacks Rank & Other Releases
MetLife has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Some other insurers that have recently reported earnings this season are W.R. Berkley Corp. WRB, The Progressive Corp. PGR and Chubb Ltd. CB, each beating their estimate by 28.13%, 16.08% and 0.8%, respectively.
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