UnitedHealth Group Profit Up 26%
Oct. 17--UnitedHealth Group upped earnings guidance for the year after earnings jumped 26 percent for the third quarter and beat analyst estimates.
The quarterly results are the first reported under new chief executive David Wichmann, who took over the top job in September.
The Minnetonka-based company's UnitedHealthcare division is the nation's largest health insurer, and the unit this month announced expansions next year into the commercial markets in Maine and Minnesota.
During the third quarter, UnitedHealth Group reported earnings of $2.49 billion on $50.32 billion in revenue, compared with earnings of $1.97 billion on $46.29 billion in revenue during the year-ago quarter.
After adjusting for one-time factors, earnings per share come in at $2.66, better than the $2.56 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
UnitedHealth Group now expects adjusted net earnings for the year of about $10, up from a previous range of $9.75 to $9.90 per share.
At the end of the third quarter, nearly 45 million people in the U.S. were covered by UnitedHealthcare health insurance, up about 2 percent from last year.
UnitedHealth Group employs about 18,000 people in Minnesota.
Beyond selling health insurance, the company has a fast-growing division for health services called Optum. Earnings from operations grew at a slightly higher rate at Optum than in the health insurance business, although both grew at double-digit rates.
Twitter: @chrissnowbeck
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