Dive Brief:
- Cigna released its Q2 earnings on Friday
- The insurer dramatically scaled back its full year predictions, Bloomberg's Zachary Tracer reported. The reason being Q2 earnings were below original estimates.
- If the Department of Justice succeeds to block the pending merger with Anthem, Cigna CEO David Cordani noted on an earnings call the carrier will end up with "$5 billion in deployable cash," Forbes' Bruce Japsen reported.
Dive Insight:
In a prepared statement, Cigna noted projected adjusted income from operations per share is currently estimated to be between $7.75 to $8.10 in 2016. This is in contrast to previous estimates of $8.95 to $9.35, Tracer notes.
Adjusted income from operations in Q2 was $515 million, or $1.98 per share. This was short of the estimate average of $2.37 of many analysts put together by Bloomberg.
Cigna's common stock has been on the decline all week. Shares opened at $146 per share on Monday. Shares were down 11.87% from Monday's open with $128.67 per share at open of business on Friday.
“Cigna's second quarter financial results reflect solid performance in Global Health Care and Global Supplemental Benefits, with a current headwind in Group Disability and Life that pressured overall results.” Cordani said in a prepared statement.
As of the end of June, Cigna has incurred a $12 million operating loss on its group disability and life business, down significantly from a $106 million profit from year-over-year in 2015.
“We are taking a series of corrective actions to stabilize and improve Group Disability and Life results," Cordani added.
Cigna's financials come at a time when they are looking to enter the Chicago individual market through the ACA exchanges. Of course, there's the looming potential blockage of its pending merger with Anthem.
Earlier this month, Cigna stated, "In light of the DOJ’s decision, we do not believe the transaction will close in 2016 and the earliest it could close is 2017, if at all." Today, Forbes' Japsen reported the insurer stated it will stand by Anthem's side -- if only because of contract obligations -- as it defends the pending merger. “Anthem leads that process and we support it,” Cordani was quoted in Forbes.