Aon Corp., Hartford Financial Services, MetLife Inc.

Aon Corp. said today its first-quarter profit jumped 28 percent as the insurance broker was able to slash costs, more than offsetting a slight decline in revenue. Net income available to common shareholders rose to $280 million, or 97 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31 compared with $218 million, or 68 cents per share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings from continuing operations, which excludes profit from discontinued operations and other special gains and charges, totaled $219 million, or 76 cents per share, in the first quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast earnings of 88 cents per share for the quarter. Analysts typically exclude special items in their estimates. Revenue slipped 3 percent to $1.85 billion from $1.91 billion a year earlier. Analysts expected higher revenue of $2.08 billion. The decline primarily reflected foreign currency translation and a decline in investment income. Revenue from Aon's risk and insurance brokerage services division declined 1 percent, while revenue slipped 10 percent in its consulting operations. Overall, commissions and fee revenue declined 1 percent to $1.82 billion in the first quarter from $1.85 billion during the same quarter a year earlier. Aon's investment income tumbled 44 percent to $32 million from $57 million during the year-ago period. The decline in revenue was more than offset by a 9 percent drop in expenses. Operating expenses fell to $1.47 billion during the quarter, from $1.62 billion during the first quarter in 2008. The primary driver of declining expenses was a 12 percent drop in compensation and benefit costs to $1.01 billion from $1.15 billion. The decline reflected foreign currency translation, the curtailment of pension costs and other savings tied to restructuring programs. Shares of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. were sharply lower in premarket trading this morning, a day after the insurer reported a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss a day earlier. Hartford Financial shares fell $1.42, or 12.4 percent, to $10.05 in electronic trading before the opening bell. For the first three months of the year, the insurance and financial services company posted a loss of $3.77 per share. Its adjusted loss totaled $3.66 per share for the period, widely missing the average loss estimate of $3.05 per share forecast by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Hartford Financial was hit hard by equity market declines. The market drop forced the Hartford, Conn.-based firm to record a $1.5 billion charge to lower estimates of future life insurance gross profits. Along with reporting the quarterly loss, Hartford Financial said it would suspend new sales in Japan and the United Kingdom. It is also halting plans to launch operations in Germany. Competition and the ongoing turmoil in the financial sector and global economic slowdown led Hartford Financial to stop the operations. Analysts appeared to take the business plan in stride. "We see these moves as appropriate, but not especially dramatic, given the diminished momentum and limited prospects to grow these businesses anyway," Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. analyst Jeffrey Schuman wrote in a research note. However, Schuman said continued uncertainty around the company's capital position and plans for its property and casualty business are likely to concern investors. "We believe some investors will be disappointed that (Hartford Financial) did not specifically validate reports that (its property and casualty business) is for sale and did not update the capital position," Schuman wrote in the note. Market declines during recent quarters has led to rising investment losses at insurers. Because of those losses, investors are worried life insurers might not have the capital reserves to cover guaranteed minimum payouts on variable annuities. Hartford Financial said it will be raising prices on the lifetime income rider in its U.S. variable annuity business and will launch a new variable annuity product in the third quarter. MetLife Inc. posted a first-quarter loss on Thursday, as declining revenue from premiums and losses on investments pushed the life insurance company's results below Wall Street's expectations. Shares in MetLife fell $1.15, or 3.9 percent, to $28.60 in after-hours trading. The stock added 7 cents to end the regular session at $29.75 before the release of the company's earnings report. New York-based MetLife lost $574 million, or 71 cents per share, in the first three months of the year. Last year, MetLife made a profit of $615 million, or 84 cents per share. Sales dropped 12 percent to $10.2 billion, almost $2 billion short of Wall Street analysts' expectations for $11.9 billion in revenue. Revenue from premiums, fees and other revenue slipped 2 percent. Like other insurers, MetLife has been hurt by stock market declines in recent months. The company said its loss on investments widened to $618 million, taking into account taxes. Its net investment income declined 24 percent to $3.3 billion from $4.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. MetLife emphasizes operating income because it excludes such losses and is considered more reflective of the company's performance. The company said operating income totaled 20 cents per share. That's still much less than Wall Street was expecting. Thomson Reuters says analysts were looking for a per-share profit of 34 cents. Operating income dropped in MetLife's institutional business, which includes group life insurance and retirement and savings. Its individual business, which includes traditional life insurance, swung to an operating loss. The company paid out $6.6 billion in policyholder benefits and claims in the quarter, essentially flat from a year ago.