Prudential Financial

, the second-largest U.S. life insurer, on Wednesday reported its first quarterly net profit in a year, and its shares rose more than 2 percent.

Prudential said its second-quarter net income was down nearly 5 percent from a year earlier, hurt by investment losses.

Prudential's financial services businesses reported a net profit of $538 million, or $1.25 a share, compared with $566 million, or $1.32 a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

It was the first net profit reported by the company since the second quarter of last year.

Excluding certain items, Prudential reported a profit of $817 million, or $1.88 a share, compared with $845 million, or $1.96 a share, in the year-ago quarter.

The company said it expected earnings excluding items for the full year of between $5 and $5.20 a share -- lower than an earlier forecast for earnings in a range of $5.25 and $5.65.

Prudential shares rose $1.12, or 2.4 percent, to $48 after closing 1.4 percent higher in the regular session at $46.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Lilla Zuill; Editing by Gary Hill)