By Tess Stynes
Aflac Inc. (AFL) said its second-quarter operating earnings fell
14% as impacts from a weaker yen continued to weigh on the
insurer's business in Japan.
Shares fell 2.1% to $61 in recent after-hours trading.
For the year, the company raised its per-share operating
earnings estimate to between $5.88 and $6.17, from its previous
estimate for per-share profit of $5.74 to $6.15.
For the current quarter, Aflac forecast per-share operating
earnings of $1.40 to $1.53, while analysts polled by Thomson
Reuters expected per-share profit of $1.48.
Core earnings are a widely watched benchmark for the insurance
industry because they exclude realized capital gains and losses
from companies' investment portfolios, among other items that
aren't considered recurring in nature on a quarterly basis.
In the company's Japan business, on a yen basis, Aflac's premium
income declined 1.2%, while total revenue was flat and segment
pretax operating earnings declined 3.1%.
In U.S. dollar terms, Japan's premium income dropped 17%, while
revenue fell 16% and pretax operating earnings declined 18%.
In the U.S. business, premium income increased 1.6%, while
revenue increased 1.9%. Pretax operating earnings declined 2%.
Aflac reported an operating profit of $651 million, or $1.50 a
share, down from $757 million, or $1.66 a share, a year
earlier.
The company expected per-share earnings of about $1.46 to
$1.57.
Revenue decreased 9.4% to $5.29 billion. Analysts polled by
revenue of $5.24 billion.
Overall, Aflac reported a profit of $573 million, or $1.32 a
share, down from $810 million, or $1.78 a share, a year
earlier.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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