MetLife Issues Fixed Rate Notes

On Sep 10, 2009, Metropolitan Life Global Funding I, a unit of MetLife Inc (MET - Analyst Report) announced the sale of fixed-rate funding agreement-backed notes in the 144a private placement market worth $1 billion. The size of the deal represents a 100% increase from the originally planned $500 million.

Bank of America Corporation (BAC - Analyst Report), Credit Suisse Group AG (CS - Analyst Report), and Deutsche Bank AG (DB - Snapshot Report) were the joint book-running managers for the sale.

The notes are non-callable and carry a coupon rate of 2.875% and will mature on Sep 17, 2012. The notes will pay coupons semi-annually with the first payment expected on Mar 17, 2010. The company will use the sale proceeds of the debentures for general corporate purposes.

Standard &Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) assigned 'AA-' rating while Moody's assigned 'AA2' rating to the notes.

MetLife’s second-quarter earnings came in much ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, aided by strong top-line growth and rebounding markets. The company's capital position remains one of the sturdiest in the industry as reconfirmed by the capital assessment process conducted by the Fed. However, results continued to be negatively impacted by investment losses, lower investment income and recent rating downgrades.

While we think MetLife should continue to benefit from its diversified business mix as well as its leading brand, higher losses in the investment portfolio will impact the results in the coming quarters. We are maintaining our Neutral recommendation on the shares.