=MetLife (MET) reported earnings Wed 3 Aug 2016 (a/h)

MetLife (NYSE:MET) said that its second-quarter profits fell 90 percent to $110 million on a review of the prospects of a variable-annuity business that the CEO Steve Kandarian is seeking to exit as part of a proposed separation of a U.S. retail operation, Bloomberg reported today.

MetLife says it will cut jobs as it looks to shed $1 billion in annual costs by the end of 2019, a move the insurance giant says was forced upon it by ongoing low interest rates that have impacted earnings.

The New York City-based company did not say precisely how many jobs it would cut, but the plan is to cut by 11 percent. The company employed 69,000 people as of the end of 2015, according to its most recent annual report.