(Reuters) - Health insurer Cigna Corp reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter adjusted profit from operations, driven by increased premium revenue and effective medical cost management.
Premiums and fees from the company's Global Health Care unit, its largest, grew 9.3 percent to $6.25 million, driven partly by customer growth in its commercial business.
CIGNA (CI.NY)anages insurance plans for large corporations and sells health plans on government exchanges created under the U.S. Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. It also offers dental and other benefits.
The company also said it expected full-year adjusted income from operations in the range of $2.1 billion-$2.2 billion, or $8.00-$8.40 per share. Analysts were expecting 2015 earnings of $8.17 per share.
The forecast includes acquisition-related expenses of about 40 cents per share, Cigna said.
The company, on Wednesday, said it had chosen Gilead Inc's
Cigna's net income attributable to shareholders rose to $467 million, or $1.77 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $361 million, or $1.29 per share, a year earlier.
The year-earlier quarter included a special charge of $40 million related to organizational costs.
Excluding items, Cigna's reported an adjusted income from operations of $1.69 per share, above the average analyst estimate of $1.67, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Total revenue rose nearly 10 percent to $8.93 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $8.89 billion.
Cigna's stock closed at $110.10 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The stock rose about 19 percent in 2014, compared with a 24 percent rise in the larger Dow Jones Healthcare index <.DJUSHC>.
(Reporting by Amrutha Penumudi in Bengaluru and Caroline Humer in New York; Editing by Simon Jennings)
