By Ben Fox Rubin
Cigna Corp. said its fourth-quarter profit declined 11% as the
health insurer's global health-care margins slipped and it lost
members from the prior quarter.
For the new year, the company predicted earnings of $6.80 to
$7.20 a share, compared with estimates of $7.32 a share from
analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Cigna has logged increased revenue in recent quarters, aided by
growing membership and acquisitions. The company, which
traditionally focused more on commercial health insurance, pushed
further into the market for senior-focused plans by recently buying
Medicare insurer HealthSpring Inc. and American Financial Group
Inc.'s Medicare supplement and critical-illness businesses.
Cigna reported a profit of $361 million, or $1.29 a share, down
from $406 million, or $1.41 a share, a year earlier. Excluding
realized investment gains and other items, earnings from operations
fell to $1.39 a share from $1.57 a share.
Premiums and fees revenue increased 6.7% to $7.28 billion. Total
revenue rose 7% to $8.15 billion.
Analysts forecast per-share adjusted earnings of $1.49 on
premiums and fees revenue of $7.35 billion.
The global health-care segment, Cigna's largest, posted 6%
higher premiums and fees. Adjusted margin in the division fell to
5% from 6.7%, reflecting "elevated medical costs" in its Medicare
Advantage business, the company said.
Total medical customers rose 1.2% to 14.22 million from 14.05
million last year, but declined from 14.3 million in the prior
quarter.
Write to Ben Fox Rubin at ben.rubin@wsj.com
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