Aflac Incorporated Announces Third Quarter Results, Reports Third Quarter Net Earnings of $777 Million, Upwardly Revises Adjusted EPS Outlook, Declares Fourth Quarter Cash Dividend

Shareholders' equity was $29.4 billion, or $40.04 per share, at September 30, 2019, compared with $23.2 billion, or $30.45 per share, at September 30, 2018. Shareholders' equity at the end of the third quarter included a net unrealized gain on investment securities and derivatives of $8.9 billion, compared with a net unrealized gain of $4.2 billion at September 30, 2018. Shareholders' equity at the end of the third quarter also included an unrealized foreign currency translation loss of $1.5 billion, compared with an unrealized foreign currency translation loss of $2.1 billion at September 30, 2018. The annualized return on average shareholders' equity in the third quarter was 10.8%.

Shareholders' equity excluding AOCI* was $22.2 billion, or $30.18 per share at September 30, 2019, compared with $21.3 billion, or $27.94 per share, at September 30, 2018. The annualized adjusted return on equity excluding foreign currency impact* in the third quarter was 15.4%.

AFLAC JAPAN

In yen terms, Aflac Japan's net premium income was ¥347.9 billion for the quarter, or 1.2% lower than a year ago, mainly due to limited-pay products reaching paid-up status. Net investment income, net of amortized hedge costs, increased 4.0% to ¥70.4 billion, primarily driven by call income and increased investments in dollar-denominated floating rate assets. Total revenues in yen declined 0.3% to ¥419.5 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings in yen for the quarter increased 6.1% on a reported basis and 7.8% on a currency-neutral basis. The pretax adjusted profit margin for the Japan segment was 21.4%, compared with 20.1% a year ago, benefiting from continued strength in benefit ratios and favorable net investment income.

For the first nine months, premium income in yen was ¥1,046.9 billion, or 1.0% lower than a year ago. Net investment income, net of amortized hedge costs, increased 3.4% to ¥204.2 billion. Total revenues in yen were down 0.3% to ¥1,254.8 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings were ¥272.6 billion, or 3.2% higher than a year ago.

In dollar terms, net premium income increased 2.6% to $3.2 billion in the third quarter. Net investment income, net of amortized hedge costs, increased 8.7% to $659 million. Total revenues increased by 3.6% to $3.9 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings increased 10.8% to $838 million.

For the first nine months, premium income in dollars was $9.6 billion, or 0.6% lower than a year ago. Net investment income, net of amortized hedge costs, increased 4.3% to $1.9 billion. Total revenues were up 0.2% to $11.5 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings were $2.5 billion, or 3.9% higher than a year ago.

For the quarter, new annualized premium sales (sales) for protection-type first sector and third sector products decreased 21.5% to ¥18.2 billion, and total sales decreased 21.5% to ¥18.5 billion, or $172 million.

For the first nine months, sales for protection-type first sector and third sector products decreased 14.5% to ¥60.0 billion, and total sales decreased 14.7% to ¥61.2 billion, or $560 million.

AFLAC U.S.

Aflac U.S. net premium income rose 1.3% to $1.4 billion in the third quarter. Net investment income decreased 2.1% to $183 million. Total revenues were up 0.9% to $1.6 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings were $335 million, 0.3% higher than a year ago, driven by an improvement in the benefit ratio partially offset by higher anticipated expenses in the quarter. The pretax adjusted profit margin for the U.S. segment was 20.6%, compared with 20.7% a year ago.

For the first nine months, premium income rose 2.0% to $4.4 billion. Net investment income decreased slightly by 0.7%  to $540 million. Total revenues were up 1.7% to $4.9 billion. Pretax adjusted earnings were $996 million, 1.5% lower than a year ago.

Aflac U.S. sales decreased 4.2% in the quarter to $344 million. For the first nine months, total new sales decreased 1.6% to $1.0 billion.

CORPORATE AND OTHER

For the quarter, total revenue increased 18.3% to $97 million, reflecting net investment income of $44 million and lower corporate expenses. Net investment income, which increased $17 million, benefited from a $21 million pretax contribution from the company's corporate hedging program. Pretax adjusted earnings were a loss of $17 million, compared with a loss of $29 million a year ago.

For the first nine months of the year, total revenue increased 17.1% to $287 million, reflecting net investment income of $126 million. Net investment income, which increased $52 million, benefited from a $61 million pretax contribution from the company's corporate hedging program. Pretax adjusted earnings were a loss of $62 million, compared with a loss of $113 million a year ago.

DIVIDEND

The board of directors declared the fourth quarter dividend of $0.27 per share, payable on December 2, 2019 to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 20, 2019.

OUTLOOK

Commenting on the company's results, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel P. Amos stated: "I am pleased with the company's overall financial results that position us to exceed our original annual adjusted earnings per share objective. At the same time, in both the U.S. and Japan, we are concentrating on investing in and executing on initiatives designed to drive future earned premium growth.

"Aflac Japan, our largest earnings contributor, generated strong financial results that were above our expectations for the quarter and the first nine months of the year, primarily reflecting strong investment income and improved benefit ratios. Sales of protection-type first sector and third sector products were down in the first nine months of the year, reflecting reduced sales of our cancer insurance through Japan Post and following a strong 2018 with the launch of our revised cancer insurance product. We continue to expect full-year Aflac Japan third sector and first sector protection sales to be down in the mid-teens, with earned premium growth in the range of 1% to 2%.

"Turning to our U.S. operations, we are pleased with the financial performance of Aflac U.S. in the quarter, which is significant because these results also reflect ongoing investment in our platform, distribution and customer experience. While our sales results were less than we expected for the quarter, keep in mind, our production tends to be skewed toward the fourth quarter. We expect full-year Aflac U.S. sales results to be flat to down slightly, with earned premium growth in the 2% range.

"We remain committed to maintaining strong capital ratios on behalf of our policyholders and balancing our financial strength with reinvesting in our business, increasing the dividend, and repurchasing shares. It goes without saying that we treasure our record of dividend growth. With the fourth quarter's declaration, 2019 will mark the 37^th consecutive year of dividend increases. Our dividend track record is supported by the strength of our capital and cash flows. We continue to anticipate that we'll repurchase in the range of $1.3 to $1.7 billion of our shares in 2019, with the range allowing us to be more tactical in our deployment strategy. As is always the case, this assumes stable capital conditions and the absence of compelling alternatives. At the same time, we recognize that prudent investment in our platform is critical to our growth strategy and driving efficiencies that will impact the bottom line for the long term.

"Having completed the first nine months of the year, I am pleased with the company's overall results, which benefited from timing of expenses, favorable investment results and continued strength in pretax profit margins. We believe those results, combined with our outlook for the remainder of 2019, well position Aflac for another year of strong financial performance. We continue to expect increased spending in the fourth quarter in support of initiatives designed to drive future growth. We are upwardly revising our 2019 adjusted earnings per diluted share outlook from a range of $4.10 to $4.30 to a higher range of $4.35 to $4.45, assuming the 2018 weighted average of ¥110.39 yen to the dollar."

*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. For 13 consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2018, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America for the 20th consecutive year and in 2019 Fortune included Aflac on its list of World's Most Admired Companies for the 18th time. 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 Friday, October 25, 2019.

AFLAC INCORPORATED AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED INCOME STATEMENT
(UNAUDITED – IN MILLIONS, EXCEPT FOR SHARE AND PER-SHARE AMOUNTS)
THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30,		2019				2018				% Change
Total revenues		$	5,536			$	5,577			(0.7)	%
Benefits and claims, net		3,027				3,002				0.8
Total acquisition and operating expenses		1,473				1,429				3.1
Earnings before income taxes		1,036				1,146				(9.6)
Income taxes		259				301
Net earnings		$	777			$	845			(8.0)	%
Net earnings per share – basic		$	1.05			$	1.10			(4.5)	%
Net earnings per share – diluted		1.04				1.09				(4.6)
Shares used to compute earnings per share (000):
Basic		739,946				767,049				(3.5)	%
Diluted		743,842				772,070				(3.7)
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 25.04.24 - PR Newswire Norges Bank - Form 8.3 - BHP Group Limited 25.04.24 - PR Newswire BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust Plc - Portfolio Update 25.04.24 - PR Newswire Everest Global Plc - Result of AGM SolarBank    Wie die Revolution der sauberen Energie eine solide Investitionsmöglichkeit bieten könnte weiterlesen» Anzeige wo-site-teaser-box-16755_site-teaser-box_2024-04-25_09%253A00%253A00_2024-04-26_09%253A00%253A59