MetLife posts Q2 profit beat on group benefits unit strength

(Reuters) - MetLife reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit on Wednesday, driven by strong performance in its group benefits unit.

Adjusted earnings in MetLife's flagship segment, group benefits, which includes employee insurance, rose to $533 million, marking a 43% increase from the previous year driven by strong underwriting, particularly in life insurance.

MetLife's net investment income rose to $5.21 billion in the three months ended June 30, compared with $5.07 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The insurance industry, which invests a chunk of cash collected as premiums into low-risk assets and market-linked securities, has logged broad gains in investment returns as higher yields lift their fixed-income portfolios.

Meanwhile, the broader stock markets also rallied in the second quarter helped by gains in mega-cap technology stocks.

Premiums, fees and other revenues remained flat at $13.55 billion in the second quarter, versus $13.59 billion a year earlier.

MetLife posted adjusted net income of $1.63 billion, or $2.28 per share, in the second quarter.

Analysts had expected a profit of $2.10 per share, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Vedant Vinayak Vichare; editing by Alan Barona)