NEW YORK (AP) _ MetLife Inc. (MET) on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $4.4 billion.

The New York-based company said it had net income of $4.75 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to $1.58 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.45 per share.

The insurer posted revenue of $18.31 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $15.54 billion.

MetLife shares have decreased 35% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has declined 12%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $32.97, a decrease of 31% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MET at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MET

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News