Life insurer Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) reported fourth-quarter 2013 adjusted operating earnings of $2.20 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.23. Earnings were, however, up 25% year over year. A charge of $1.2 billion during the quarter led to the earnings miss.
Including one-time items, Prudential reported net loss of 94 cents per share, compared with net loss of 42 cents in the year-ago quarter.
Total revenue reported by Prudential was $11.0 billion, down 76% year over primarily due to lower premium. The top line also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.7 billion.
Total benefits and expenses were $9.5 billion in the quarter, down 79% year over year, primarily led by a decline in insurance and annuity benefits.
Full Year Highlights
For full year 2013, Prudential reported earnings of $9.67 per share up 51.1% year over year, but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.75 per share.
Total revenue declined 44% year over year to $45.3 billion, primarily led by a decline in premiums. The revenue figure also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $48.1 billion.
Quarterly Segment Update
The U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management division, which houses Individual Annuities, Retirement, and Asset Management, represents approximately 35% of Prudential’s total revenue. The segment reported adjusted operating income of $996 million, up 39.5% year over year.
Adjusted operating income at the U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance division increased 2.5 times year over year to $215 million. The segment reported revenues of $2.6 billion, up 15.6% year over year.
The International Insurance division’s adjusted operating income remained unchanged year over year at $647 million. An increase in operating income from Gibraltar life nullified the decrease in operating earnings from Life Planners.
The Corporate and Other Operations division’s adjusted loss was $397 million, wider than the loss of $372 million recorded in the year-ago quarter.
Prudential’s Assets under management increased 4.4% year over year to $1.107 trillion as of Dec 31, 2013.
Financial Position
Adjusted book value per share as of Dec 31, 2013, was $60.00, up 3.3% year over year.
During the fourth quarter, Prudential repurchased 2.9 million shares at a total cost of $250 million.
Prudential presently retains a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Other Stocks to Consider
Other stocks like CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO) with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and American International Group, Inc. (AIG) and Cigna Corp. (CI), both with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) are worth reckoning. All these stocks are due to release their fourth-quarter earnings results soon.
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Get all Zacks Research Reports and be alerted to fast-breaking buy and sell opportunities every trading day.
Be the first to comment