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Non-Tech : Conseco Insurance (CNO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Pri who wrote (760)	7/1/1998 7:13:00 AM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4155

[ Business \| US Market \| Industry \| IPO \| S&P \| Int'l \| PRNews \| BizWire \| Finance Home ] Tuesday June 30, 4:09 pm Eastern Time INTERVIEW-Conseco backs EPS view after deal By Brad Dorfman CHICAGO, June 30 (Reuters) - Conseco Inc. chairman and chief executive Stephen Hilbert said Tuesday he was comfortable with analysts estimates of 1998 earnings a share of $3.40-$3.44 excluding the contributions of an acquisition completed Tuesday. ''We're comfortable with that,'' he said in a telephone interview with Reuters. The $6 billion acquisition of Green Tree Financial by Carmel, Ind.-based financial services company Conseco will increase earnings by 3-3.5 percent, starting in the third quarter, Hilbert said. He also said the company was comfortable with analyst estimates of $4.12-$4.15 a share for 1999, but noted that while those factor in Green Tree's results, they do not include any cross-selling Conseco will be able to make to Green Tree customers. The stock deal was originally valued at $7.6 billion when it was announced in April, but Conseco's stock has fallen about 18 percent since April 6, the day before the deal was announced. Hilbert attributed much of the fall to arbitrage activity, which he said would end with the deal being completed Tuesday. ''I believe, that, without being pinned down to a guarantee -- this is only my opinion -- that the Conseco stock is going to be a lot closer to 70 by year-end than it is to 50,'' he said, noting that 14 of the 16 analysts that follow the company rate the stock either a buy or a strong buy. Conseco has said it will take a write-down in connection with the Green Tree deal and that the amount of the write-down to be announced next week is about what it was expected to be when the deal was announced. "It's right in line with what we anticipated," Hilbert said. While focusing on improving its internal operations, Conseco also would consider acquisitions in insurance, consumer or commercial finance or asset management, Hilbert said. ''If The right transaction comes along, we'll definitely take a look at it, but right now our focus is to maximize our internal operations,'' Hilbert said. Conseco also canceled its stock repurchase plan after announcing the Green Tree deal, because of accounting rules. Hilbert said the company is not considering a stock repurchase at this time. Typically, companies have to wait 6-9 months after an acquisition using pooling of interests accounting before resuming a stock repurchase. ''Stock repurchase programs aren't even a thought of ours right now,'' he said. Conseco shares were down 1-5/16 at 46-3/4 Tuesday. More Quotes and News: Conseco Inc (NYSE:CNC - news) Related News Categories: options, US Market News Help Copyright c 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon See our Important Disclaimers and Legal Information. Questions or Comments?