CONSECO (CNC) LOOKING UP!! :-)
Watch out tomorrow!!
Press release came out at 3:43pm today caused a rush to buy as "after hours trading"
went on until 4:22.
Here is what the press release said which to me can only mean OUTSTANDING
EARNINGS ARE ON THE WAY!!!
Tuesday July 15 3:43 PM EDT
Company Press Release
Conseco Announces Second Quarter 1997 New Business
Premiums of $554 Million
CARMEL, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 15, 1997--Conseco Inc. (NYSE:CNC)
today
announced that first-year collected premiums for the second quarter of 1997 rose
by 12 percent
over the preceding quarter, to approximately $554 million. Total premium
collections for the second
quarter of 1997, including both first-year and renewal premiums, reached a
record $1.3 billion.
First-year collected premiums for the second quarter of 1997 were only slightly
below the
company's quarterly record of $569 million of first-year premiums collected in
the second quarter of
1996.
Conseco Chairman Stephen C. Hilbert said, ``At Conseco, we will not sacrifice
profitability for
top-line growth. We are therefore especially pleased that our efforts to increase
profitable
production are truly `paying off.' Annuity premium collections in the second
quarter were
approximately $439 million, up 17 percent over the first quarter of 1997. We
expect that annuity
premium collections will continue their upward trend in the remainder of 1997
and that annuities, and
especially variable annuities, will lead the increased premium collections in the
remainder of the year.
We believe that we are within reach of our previously announced target of a 15
percent increase in
first-year collected premiums for the full year of 1997. Investors must
understand, however, that no
top-line target is important enough to make us compromise our product
profitability standards.''
``We are also pleased that agent recruitment is accelerating,'' Hilbert said. ``The
number of career
agents (at Conseco's Bankers Life and Casualty subsidiary) was 3,365 at June
30, 1997, up 7
percent over the year-earlier level, and 13 percent over the average number for
the first six months
of 1997. Conseco's variable annuity products are now sold by 93 broker-dealers
(more than double
the number of a year ago), encompassing more than 28,000 registered
representatives. We expect
the number of Conseco's career agents, independent agents and registered
representatives to
continue to increase, and that these trends, together with the introduction of
Conseco brand
advertising in November, will have a very positive impact on sales in the
remainder of 1997 and
beyond.''
Conseco will announce second quarter 1997 earnings on July 30, 1997. As
reported, Conseco
expects to equal or exceed the consensus analyst estimate (according to First
Call) of $2.65 of
operating earnings per share for the full year of 1997, an increase of 40 percent
over the $1.89
reported for 1996. For 1998, the First Call consensus estimate is $3.23 per
share, a 22 percent
increase over the 1997 consensus estimate. Over the near term, Hilbert said,
Conseco's consistent
profitability will continue to be driven primarily by the company's active and
disciplined management
of its diversified and predictable in-force businesses -- by its ability to earn its
targeted investment
spreads and to continuously improve its operating efficiency -- rather than by
new sales. Over the
long-term, Hilbert said he believes that Conseco can grow operating earnings
per share by 15
percent to 20 percent per year without acquisitions by applying the same
disciplined management
and by harnessing the power of the company's 150,000 independent and career
agents under a
powerful Conseco brand.
Total collected premiums on life insurance products of $167 million, a 5 percent
decline from the
year-earlier quarter, nevertheless exceeded management expectations. As
previously reported,
Conseco in late 1996 withdrew several life insurance products which were not
able to achieve
desired profitability levels and is in the process of reintroducing a revised
product.
Collected premiums on long-term care products for the quarter were
approximately $165 million, an
increase of 16 percent over the second quarter of 1996, with both career agent
and independent
agent distribution channels participating in the increase. Medicare supplement
collected premiums
were approximately $210 million, up 3 percent over the second quarter of 1996.
All premium amounts cited above include (in all periods) premiums collected by
all companies
currently owned by Conseco.
Conseco is a financial services organization headquartered in Carmel, Ind.
Through its subsidiaries,
Conseco is one of the nation's leading providers of supplemental health
insurance, retirement
annuities and universal life insurance.
Contact:
Conseco, Inc.
Jim Rosensteele, 317/817-2893
E-mail: ir@conseco.com
More news for referenced ticker symbols: CNC, and related industries: banking,
insurance.
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