NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Hartford Financial Group (HIG.N) posted its third straight net loss and said it plans to stop selling new policies in Japan and the United Kingdom, as the insurer reeled from the same weak financial markets that triggered a net loss at MetLife Inc (MET.N).

Both posted results worse than analysts had expected, and their shares dropped after hours, with Hartford down 12 percent.
But Hartford suffered more during the quarter than MetLife. Its $1.2 billion net loss shaved 16 percent off the property and life insurer's net worth, and reduced its estimates for full year earnings, while MetLife's $574 million net loss only resulted in a roughly 2 percent decline in the company's value on paper.
Hartford was hit by a $1.5 billion after-tax charge as declining stock markets permanently reduced the expected profitability of retirement products it sold. Its investment portfolio declined from the fourth quarter, and unrealized losses on investments climbed.
Those weaker markets cut into MetLife's earnings from retirement products as well.
With losses eating into its capital, Hartford it taking serious steps to shore up its finances. It is looking at selling one of its main units, its property and casualty insurance business, in an effort to raise capital, sources have told Reuters.
It is also considering options for its institutional markets business, which sells investment products to institutions, corporations, and wealthy people.
On June 1, the insurer will stop selling new policies and products in Japan, where as of March 31 it had more than 500,000 policies outstanding and $30 billion of assets under management. Hartford is also going to stop writing all business in the United Kingdom. It will not launch sales in Germany, where it had previously planned to expand.