CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Insurer Prudential misses profit estimates on weaker annuities income
August 2, 2018 by Reuters Staff
(Corrects to 31 from 40 in third paragraph, adds “pre-tax” in sixth paragraph, corrects last paragraph to say MetLife is one of the largest U.S. life insurers, not the largest by assets.)
Aug 1(Reuters) – Prudential Financial Inc on Wednesday missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit, hurt by weaker results at its annuities business.
Prudential, the second largest U.S. life insurer, said adjusted operating income at its individual annuities unit fell 17 percent to $507 million in the second quarter ended June 30.
Annuities are long term investments an individual makes with an insurance company specifically for retirement purposes. They contribute some 31 percent of Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential’s overall adjusted operating income.
The company’s international insurance division also reported a decline in adjusted operating income, of 4.7 percent to $784 million.
Prudential’s stock fell nearly 2 percent to $98.56 in after-hours trading on Wednesday.
Second-quarter net income attributable to Prudential fell to $197 million from $491 million a year earlier. The results reflect a one-time pre-tax expense of $1.6 billion related to divested businesses.
Excluding one-time items, operating profit was $3.01 per share, missing analysts’ average estimate of $3.07 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
MetLife Inc, one of the largest U.S. life insurers, reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit earlier on Wednesday, led by higher premiums and fees. (Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)
