Related Documents >2Q08 Financial Supplement >Guidance Summary |
"Aetna's performance in the second quarter demonstrates our ability to continue producing solid results driven by strong revenue growth as well as membership gains, even in a challenging economic and industry environment," said Ronald A. Williams, chairman and CEO. "Our success continues to be rooted in two basic principles: providing our customers with innovative products and services tailored to their needs; and managing health care quality and cost for our customers with disciplined focus and execution."
"Our focus remains on delivering profitable growth, and we are well positioned to deliver on our projections for 2008," said Joseph M. Zubretsky, executive vice president and CFO. "We are therefore confident in reaffirming our full-year 2008 operating earnings guidance of $4.00 per share.2 We also expect solid operating earnings per share growth in 2009, and we remain committed to our long term operating earnings per share growth goal of 15 percent."
Health Care business results
Health Care, which provides a full range of insured and self-insured medical, pharmacy, dental and behavioral health products and services, reported:
Group Insurance business results
Group Insurance, which includes group life, disability and long-term care products, reported:
Large Case Pensions business results
Large Case Pensions, which manages a variety of discontinued and other retirement and savings products, primarily qualified pension plans, reported:
Total company results
A live audio webcast of the second-quarter results conference call will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET today. The public may access the conference call through a live audio webcast available on Aetna's Investor Information link on the internet at www.aetna.com. Financial, statistical and other information, including GAAP reconciliations, related to the conference call also will be available on Aetna's Investor Information web site.
The conference call also can be accessed by dialing 866-409-1561, or 913-312-1466 for international callers. Aetna suggests participants dial in approximately 10 minutes before the call. Individuals who dial in will be asked to identify themselves and their affiliations.
A replay of the call may be accessed through Aetna's Investor Information link on the internet at www.aetna.com or by dialing 888-203-1112, or 719-457-0820 for international callers. The replay access code is 8312145. Telephone replays will be available from 11:30 a.m. ET on July 31 until midnight ET on August 13, 2008.
Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 37.2 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates.
www.aetna.com
1 Operating earnings exclude net realized capital gains and losses and other items, if any, from net income as discussed below. Although the excluded items may recur, management believes that operating earnings and operating earnings per share provide a more useful comparison of Aetna's underlying business performance from period to period. Management uses operating earnings to assess business performance and to make decisions regarding Aetna's operations and allocation of resources among Aetna's businesses. Operating earnings is also the measure reported to the Chief Executive Officer for these purposes. Each of the excluded items is discussed below:
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT; ADDITIONAL INFORMATION -- Certain information in this press release is forward looking, including our projections as to operating earnings per share and weighted-average diluted shares. Forward-looking information is based on management's estimates, assumptions and projections, and is subject to significant uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond Aetna's control. Important risk factors could cause actual future results and other future events to differ materially from those currently estimated by management, including failure to achieve desired rate increases and/or profitable membership growth due to the slowing economy and/or significant competition, especially in key geographic markets where membership is concentrated; adverse changes in size, product mix or medical cost experience of membership; adverse pricing or funding actions by federal or state government payors; and adverse changes in federal or state government policies or regulation (including legislative proposals that would affect our business model and/or limit our ability to price for the risk we assume and/or reflect reasonable costs or profits in our pricing, and other proposals, such as initiatives to eliminate or reduce ERISA pre-emption of state laws, that would increase potential litigation exposure or mandate coverage of certain health benefits). Other important risk factors include, but are not limited to: unanticipated increases in medical costs (including increased medical utilization, increased pharmacy costs, increases resulting from unfavorable changes in contracting or re-contracting with providers, changes in membership mix to lower-premium or higher-cost products or membership-adverse selection; as well as changes in medical cost estimates due to the necessary extensive judgment that is used in the medical cost estimation process, the considerable variability inherent in such estimates, and the sensitivity of such estimates to changes in medical claims payment patterns and changes in medical cost trends); the ability to reduce administrative expenses while maintaining targeted levels of service and operating performance; the ability to improve relations with providers while taking actions to reduce medical costs and/or expand the services we offer; reduced levels of investment income from low interest rates; the ability to successfully integrate our businesses (including acquired businesses) and implement multiple strategic and operational initiatives simultaneously; our ability to integrate, simplify, and enhance our existing information technology systems and platforms to keep pace with changing customer and regulatory needs; the outcome of various litigation and regulatory matters, including litigation and ongoing reviews of business practices by various regulatory authorities (including the current industry-wide investigation by the New York Attorney General into certain payment practices with respect to out-of-network providers); reputational issues arising from data security breaches or other means; and increases in medical costs or Group Insurance claims resulting from any acts of terrorism, epidemics or other extreme events. For more discussion of important risk factors that may materially affect Aetna, please see the risk factors contained in Aetna's 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K, on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). You also should read Aetna's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 when filed with the SEC for a discussion of Aetna's historical results of operations and financial condition.
(PDF: 126 KB / 15 pages)