Aflac Beats 4Q Profit Forecasts

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) _ Aflac Inc. (AFL) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter profit of $2.35 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Columbus, Georgia-based company said it had net income of $5.95. Earnings, adjusted for pretax gains and non-recurring gains, were $1.60 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.55 per share.

The insurer posted revenue of $5.42 billion in the period.

For the year, the company reported profit of $4.37 billion, or $10.96 per share. Revenue was reported as $21.67 billion.

Aflac expects full-year earnings in the range of $7.45 to $7.75 per share.

Aflac shares have risen almost 1 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased nearly 6 percent. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $88.28, a rise of 26 percent in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AFL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AFL