Aflac Inc. (AFL)

[MiamiGent]

AFL Aflac 1Q Net Surges Over Weak Year Ago; Core Profit Well Ahead Of Street
PROVIDED BY Dow Jones & Company, Inc. - 4:36 PM 04/24/2012
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

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Aflac Inc.'s (AFL) first-quarter earnings more than doubled over a year- earlier period hit by heavy investment losses, although the insurer also posted a core profit that easily exceeded expectations.

Shares jumped 5% to $44 after-hours as the insurer, which has operations in Japan and the U.S., also boosted its outlook for its Japanese operations, its largest revenue stream.

Chief Executive Daniel P. Amos said the company now expects Aflac Japan's full-year sales to increase 10%, compared with the company's previous expectation for a sales decline.

"Aflac Japan's first-quarter production set an all-time new annualized premium sales record for the third quarter in a row," Amos said. "More importantly, we believe the first quarter has positioned us for another strong year of sales activities in Japan."

Aflac (AFL) in recent months has been in the midst of an overhaul of its $100 billion investment portfolio after struggling with losses on its significant European holdings.

The insurer, which has already sold billions of dollars of European securities, in February revealed it had hired consultants from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and McKinsey & Co. to help it broaden and re-evaluate its investment approach.

For the first quarter, Aflac (AFL) posted a profit of $785 million, or $1.68 a share, up sharply from a year-earlier profit of $389 million, or 83 cents a share.

The latest results included after-tax realized investment losses, net of realized investment gains, of $29 million, or 6 cents a share. That compares with net after-tax losses of $376 million, or 79 cents a share, in the year- earlier period.

Operating earnings, which exclude investment gains and losses, rose to $1.74 a share from $1.62 a year earlier, easily topping the $1.65 expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue jumped 22% to $6.24 billion, reflecting the benefit from a stronger yen/dollar exchange rate. Analysts expected revenue of $6.2 billion.

-By Mia Lamar, Dow Jones Newswires


(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-24-12 1636ET