Aflac Incorporated Announces Fourth Quarter Results, Reports Fourth Quarter Net Earnings of $782 Million, 2019 Adjusted EPS In Line With Upwardly Revised Guidance, Affirms 2020 Adjusted EPS Outlook, Increases First Quarter Cash Dividend 3.7%

Shareholders' equity was $29.0 billion, or $39.84 per share, at December 31, 2019, compared with $23.5 billion, or $31.06 per share, at  December 31, 2018. Shareholders' equity at the end of the fourth quarter included a net unrealized gain on investment securities and derivatives of $8.5 billion, compared with a net unrealized gain of $4.2 billion at December 31, 2018. Shareholders' equity at the end of the fourth quarter also included an unrealized foreign currency translation loss of $1.6 billion, compared with an unrealized foreign currency translation loss of $1.8 billion at December 31, 2018. The annualized return on average shareholders' equity in the fourth quarter was 10.7% and 12.6% for the full year.

Shareholders' equity excluding AOCI* was $22.3 billion, or $30.74 per share at December 31, 2019, compared with $21.3 billion, or $28.22 per share, at December 31, 2018. The annualized adjusted return on equity excluding foreign currency impact* in the fourth quarter was 13.4% and 15.1% for the full year.

AFLAC JAPAN

In yen terms, Aflac Japan's net premium income was ¥345.8 billion for the quarter, or 1.6% lower than a year ago, mainly due to limited-pay products reaching paid-up status. Net investment income, net of amortized hedge costs*, decreased 1.4% to ¥67.1 billion. Total revenues in yen declined 1.6% to ¥413.9 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings in yen for the quarter declined 8.8% on a reported basis and 7.2% on a currency-neutral basis. The pretax adjusted profit margin for the Japan segment was 19.8%, compared with 21.4% a year ago. This reflects a favorable benefit ratio in 2018 and elevated expenses driven by reinvestment in the business in 2019.

For the full year, net premium income in yen was ¥1.4 trillion, or 1.1% lower than a year ago. Net investment income, net of amortized hedge costs, increased 2.2% to ¥271.3 billion. Total revenues in yen were down 0.6% to ¥1.7 trillion. Pretax adjusted earnings were ¥354.8 billion, or 0.2% higher than a year ago.

In dollar terms, net premium income increased 2.1% to $3.2 billion in the fourth quarter. Net investment income, net of amortized hedge costs, increased 2.7% to $618 million. Total revenues increased by 2.2% to $3.8 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings declined 5.1% to $757 million.

For the full year, net premium income in dollars was $12.8 billion, or 0.1% higher than a year ago. Net investment income, net of amortized hedge costs, increased 3.9% to $2.5 billion. Total revenues were up 0.7% to $15.3 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings were $3.3 billion, or 1.7% higher than a year ago.

For the quarter, new annualized premium sales (sales) for protection-type first sector and third sector products decreased 23.6% to ¥18.1 billion, and total sales decreased 23.4% to ¥18.5 billion, or $170 million.

For the full year, sales for protection-type first sector and third sector products decreased 16.8% to ¥78.2 billion, and total sales decreased 16.9% to ¥79.7 billion, or $731 million.

AFLAC U.S.

Aflac U.S. net premium income rose 1.1% to $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter. Net investment income decreased 1.6% to $180 million. Total revenues were up 1.6% to $1.6 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings were $275 million, 0.4% higher than a year ago, despite higher anticipated expenses in the quarter. The pretax adjusted profit margin for the U.S. segment was 16.8%, compared with 17.0% a year ago.

For the full year, net premium income rose 1.8% to $5.8 billion. Net investment income decreased slightly by 1.0% to $720 million. Total revenues were up 1.7% to $6.6 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings were $1.3 billion, 1.0% lower than a year ago.

Aflac U.S. sales decreased 0.7% in the quarter to $534 million. For the full year, total new sales decreased 1.3% to $1.6 billion.

CORPORATE AND OTHER

For the quarter, total revenue increased 14.0% to $106 million, reflecting net investment income of $50 million and lower corporate expenses. Net investment income, which increased $12 million, benefited from a $27 million pretax contribution from the company's enterprise corporate hedging program. Pretax adjusted earnings were a loss of $9 million, compared with a loss of $26 million a year ago.

For the full year, total revenue increased 15.9% to $393 million, reflecting net investment income of $177 million. Net investment income, which increased $64 million, benefited from a $89 million pretax contribution from the company's enterprise corporate hedging program. Pretax adjusted earnings were a loss of $72 million, compared with a loss of $139 million a year ago.

DIVIDEND

The board of directors declared the first quarter dividend of $0.28 per share, payable on March 2, 2020 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 19, 2020.

OUTLOOK

Commenting on the company's results, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel P. Amos stated: "We are pleased with the company's overall performance for the year. Total pretax adjusted earnings increased 2.5%, which is particularly impressive considering our extensive investments to drive future earned premium growth, which will remain a critical strategic focus for 2020. I am pleased with the Board's decision to increase the dividend, coming off our 37th consecutive year of dividend increases and a recognition of the stability of our earnings and capital generation. It also demonstrates our commitment to rewarding our shareholders.

"As expected, Aflac Japan saw a decline in total earned premium in 2019 mainly due to limited-pay policies reaching paid-up status, which has minimal effect on profitability. Additionally, as we anticipated, full-year third sector and first sector protection sales were down in the mid-teens, primarily reflecting reduced sales of our cancer insurance through Japan Post and following a strong 2018 with the launch of our revised cancer insurance product. Earned premium growth for third and first sector protection products was 1.3%, which was in line with our expectation. As communicated on our 2020 outlook call, we expect a decline in the range of 0.7% in third sector and first sector protection earned premium for the year.

"With respect to our U.S. operations, our financial results for the year were consistent with our expectations and reflected elevated expenses as a result of ongoing investments in our platform, distribution and customer experience. While sales were down slightly for the year, earned premium grew 1.8%. In line with what we communicated on the 2020 outlook call, we expect Aflac U.S. to generate earned premium growth in the range of 1% and maintain stable persistency. We will continue to invest in product development and efforts to facilitate producer growth and productivity, including the measured roll-out of Aflac Dental and Vision that was initiated in January.

"Turning to investments, net investment income closed out a strong year in the face of lower rates in the U.S. and Japan, while at the same time positioning the credit quality of the portfolio to perform well should there be economic weakness. Consistent with Aflac Global Investments' business strategy, we closed on the acquisition of a non-controlling minority interest in Varagon Capital Partners in January 2020, where we are also making a multi-year commitment to build a portfolio of middle market loans.  A natural extension of our external manager program, we expect this strategy to deliver incremental value in future years.

"We remain committed to maintaining strong capital ratios on behalf of our policyholders and maintaining a strong risk-based capital ratio in the U.S. and solvency margin ratio in Japan. We will also continue to reinvest in our business, recognizing that prudent investment in our platform is also critical to our growth strategy and driving efficiencies that ultimately will impact the bottom line. We balance reinvestment with a focus on increasing the dividend and repurchasing shares. We expect share repurchase will be in the range of $1.3 to $1.7 billion in 2020, with the range allowing us to be more tactical in our deployment strategy. As always, this assumes stable capital conditions and the absence of compelling alternatives.

"As we look to 2020, our objective is to produce stable adjusted earnings per diluted share of $4.32 to $4.52, assuming the 2019 weighted-average exchange rate of 109.07 yen to the dollar. As always, we are working very hard to achieve our earnings-per-share objective while also ensuring we deliver on our promise to policyholders."

*See Non-U.S. GAAP Financial Measures section for an explanation of foreign exchange and its impact on the financial statements and definitions of the non-U.S. GAAP financial measures used in this earnings release, as well as a reconciliation of such non-U.S. GAAP financial measures to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures.

ABOUT AFLAC INCORPORATED
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) is a Fortune 500 company, helping provide protection to more than 50 million people through its subsidiaries in Japan and the U.S., where it is a leading supplemental insurer by paying cash fast when policyholders get sick or injured. For more than six decades, insurance policies of Aflac Incorporated's subsidiaries have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. Aflac Life Insurance Japan is the leading provider of medical and cancer insurance in Japan, where it insures 1 in 4 households. Through its trailblazing One Day Pay^SM initiative in the United States, for eligible claims, Aflac can process, approve and electronically send funds to claimants for quick access to cash in just one business day. Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America for 20 consecutive years. For 13 consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2020, Fortune included Aflac Incorporated on its list of World's Most Admired Companies for the 19th time, and Bloomberg added Aflac Incorporated to its Gender-Equality Index, which tracks the financial performance of public companies committed to supporting gender equality through policy development, representation and transparency. To find out more about One Day Pay^SM and learn how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover, get to know us at aflac.com.

Aflac herein means American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus and American Family Life Assurance Company of New York.

A copy of Aflac's Financial Analysts Briefing (FAB) supplement for the quarter can be found on the "Investors" page at aflac.com.

Aflac Incorporated will webcast its quarterly conference call via the "Investors" page of aflac.com at 9:00 a.m. (ET) on Wednesday, February 5, 2020.

AFLAC INCORPORATED AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED INCOME STATEMENT
(UNAUDITED – IN MILLIONS, EXCEPT FOR SHARE AND PER-SHARE AMOUNTS)
THREE MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31,		2019				2018				% Change
Total revenues		$	5,603			$	5,126			9.3	%
Benefits and claims, net		2,985				2,925				2.1
Total acquisition and operating expenses		1,560				1,479				5.5
Earnings before income taxes		1,058				722				46.5
Income taxes		276				197
Net earnings		$	782			$	525			49.0	%
Net earnings per share – basic		$	1.07			$	0.69			55.1	%
Net earnings per share – diluted		1.06				0.69				53.6
Shares used to compute earnings per share (000):
Basic		733,358				760,037				(3.5)	%
Diluted		737,463				765,103				(3.6)
Dividends paid per share		$	0.27			$	0.26 Werbung Mehr Nachrichten zur Aflac Inc. Aktie kostenlos abonnieren E-Mail-Adresse Bitte überprüfe deine die E-Mail-Adresse. Benachrichtigungen von ARIVA.DE (Mit der Bestellung akzeptierst du die Datenschutzhinweise) -1 Vielen Dank, dass du dich für unseren Newsletter angemeldet hast. Du erhältst in Kürze eine E-Mail mit einem Aktivierungslink. Hinweis: ARIVA.DE veröffentlicht in dieser Rubrik Analysen, Kolumnen und Nachrichten aus verschiedenen Quellen. Die ARIVA.DE AG ist nicht verantwortlich für Inhalte, die erkennbar von Dritten in den „News“-Bereich dieser Webseite eingestellt worden sind, und macht sich diese nicht zu Eigen. Diese Inhalte sind insbesondere durch eine entsprechende „von“-Kennzeichnung unterhalb der Artikelüberschrift und/oder durch den Link „Um den vollständigen Artikel zu lesen, klicken Sie bitte hier.“ erkennbar; verantwortlich für diese Inhalte ist allein der genannte Dritte. Andere Nutzer interessierten sich auch für folgende News 24.04.24 - PR Newswire Fidelity Japan Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares 24.04.24 - PR Newswire Oxford Instruments Plc - Holding(s) in Company 24.04.24 - PR Newswire Fidelity Special Values Plc - Monthly Factsheet Solarboom 2024:    5 Gründe die für diese Aktie sprechen… weiterlesen» Anzeige wo-site-teaser-box-16746_site-teaser-box_2024-04-24_08%253A00%253A00_2024-04-25_09%253A00%253A59