Aflac Q2 Net Earnings Surge 38% to $825M, Declares Dividend
AFL sits 28% above its 52-week low of $97.47.
Summary
Aflac reported Q2 net earnings of $825 million, up 38% from $599 million a year ago, driven by smaller investment losses. Adjusted earnings fell 7.7% to $883 million, with adjusted EPS down 1.7% to $1.75, missing the year-ago $1.78 and analyst estimates, as the weaker yen shaved $0.05 off adjusted EPS. The company returned $1.3 billion to shareholders via $983 million in buybacks and $309 million in dividends, and declared a third quarter dividend. This follows a $500 million debt offering in May and a data breach at the Japan unit in June. The strong capital return and net income beat are tempered by the adjusted earnings decline and yen headwinds.
Updates
· Reuters — Revenue was $4.1B, below the $4.16B estimate, and Japan unit net premiums fell 12.7% to $1.5B. U.S. premiums rose 2.3% and sales grew 2.6%.
At the time of this announcement, AFL was trading at $124.38 on NYSE in the Finance sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $64.5B. The 52-week trading range was $97.47 to $130.22. This news item was assessed with neutral market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10. Source: PR Newswire.