(Reuters) - MetLife Inc said on Thursday it had signed a $19.20 billion reinsurance deal with retirement and life insurance firm Global Atlantic, and boosted its stock buyback programme to $4 billion.

Shares of the insurer rose 1.7% in premarket trade as it increased its repurchase programme by $1 billion after saying earlier this month that it would buyback shares worth $3 billion.

MetLife first-quarter profit missed Wall street estimates on May 3, as growing economic uncertainty impacted the insurer's investment income.

The company expects the Global Atlantic transaction, likely to close in the second half of 2023, to positively impact several of its key financial metrics.

(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)