Brighthouse Financial Earns $213 Million Excluding Notable Items — And Expects Its Sale To Slip
The insurer expects regulatory reviews to push its pending Aquarian Capital merger beyond the December 6 deadline.
Brighthouse Financial, which sells annuities and life insurance in the U.S., earned $213 million on an adjusted basis excluding notable items in the third quarter, down from $261 million a year earlier. In its results release Thursday, the company also said insurance regulatory reviews are expected to delay completion of its pending sale to Aquarian Capital beyond December 6, 2026.
The $70.00 Sale Needs More Time
Brighthouse and Aquarian Capital are discussing an extension of their merger agreement because the company expects approvals from Delaware, New York and Massachusetts to take longer than the current deadline allows. Either party may terminate the agreement if the deal has not closed by December 6.
The agreement, announced November 6, 2025, calls for an Aquarian Capital affiliate to buy Brighthouse for $70.00 a share in cash, valuing the transaction at approximately $4.1 billion. Aquarian Capital has insurance and asset-management businesses. The merger deadline automatically moved to December 6 on September 6, 2026.
Both companies remain committed to the transaction, Brighthouse said, but an extension and completion are not assured. BHF shares rose about 4% to $42.62 in Friday trading, with a market value of $2.4 billion.
Assumption Reviews Lifted Both Years
Excluding notable items, diluted adjusted earnings were $3.68 a share, against $4.54 a year earlier. The comparable earnings total also fell from $258 million in the second quarter.
The annual review of insurance assumptions added $314 million to adjusted earnings this quarter, versus a $709 million benefit a year earlier. With those items included, adjusted earnings were $527 million, or $9.12 per diluted share, compared with $970 million, or $16.87.
Under standard accounting, profit available to common shareholders totaled $302 million, or $5.21 per diluted share, against $453 million, or $7.89. That result included a separate $278 million benefit from the review of long-term assumptions.
The segment results show where the review had its greatest effect: Run-off reported adjusted earnings of $166 million, including a $248 million favorable item. A year earlier, that segment earned $641 million with a $705 million favorable item. Annuities earned $301 million versus $304 million, Life earned $91 million versus $40 million, and Corporate & Other lost $31 million versus $15 million.
Shield Sales Offset Weaker Fixed Annuities
Annuity sales were $2.4 billion, roughly unchanged from the second quarter but down 12% from a year earlier. Lower fixed-annuity sales drove the decline, partly offset by Shield Level Annuities sales of $2.1 billion. Annuity sales fell 8% for the year to date.
Life sales, primarily from SmartCare, totaled $36 million, down 8% from the second quarter and 5% from a year earlier, while year-to-date sales were flat. Brighthouse distributes its products through independent partners and earns money from premiums, policy and annuity fees, and investment margins.
Adjusted investment income reached $1,310 million, down $17 million from a year earlier because average assets were lower. Higher alternative-investment income helped it rise $71 million from the second quarter.
Preliminary, unaudited capital figures put the insurers’ estimated risk-based capital ratio—a measure of capital relative to risk—at 415%–435%, inside the company’s 400%–450% target for normal market conditions. Combined total adjusted capital was $4.8 billion, versus $4.9 billion in the second quarter and $5.4 billion a year earlier; holding-company liquid assets totaled $1.0 billion.
December 6 remains the contractual deadline: extending the $70.00-a-share deal requires Brighthouse and Aquarian Capital to reach an agreement.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit q32026bhfearningspressrele.htm — Brighthouse Financial, Inc. 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit q32026bhffinancialsuppleme.htm — Brighthouse Financial, Inc. 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- Brighthouse Financial (BHF) Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Brighthouse Financial: Q3 Earnings Snapshot | wusa9.com — Associated Press
- Brighthouse Financial Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results – Company Announcement - FT.com — Financial Times
