MetLife Inc. (MET), the nation’s largest life insurer, has posted a a first-quarter loss. This comes on the back of problems in its investment portfolio and rising costs while the premium revenue has continued to fall.

MET Shares fell 3.9% to $28.60 as the results were well short of analysts’ expectations.

However, the Chief Executive C. Robert Henrikson said, “We once again demonstrated the benefit of our diverse mix of businesses, which continued to perform well despite the problems in the economy and the recession”.

The words had no effect on the wall street as the expectations and the performance were two different things and the investors took the shares to the celaners.