CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) today hosted an Investor Day in New York City,
including a business update and outlook for 2017. President and Chief
Executive Officer Rick McKenney and other members of Unum’s executive
management team provided an update on the state of the company,
including presentations from business segment leaders, and the outlook
for 2017.
Unum expects after-tax operating income per share growth in a range of 3
percent to 6 percent for 2017. Additionally, Unum reiterated its
expectations for 2016 full year after-tax operating income per share
growth at-to-slightly above the upper end of the range of 3 percent to 6
percent.
“Our performance in 2016 has demonstrated the strength of our brand and
reputation, as our core business segments, with best-in-class operating
margins, have continued to show their resilience in a volatile market
environment,” said McKenney. “We enter 2017 from a position of strength,
with leading market positions, and our focus continues to be on
disciplined execution and enhancing our risk management capabilities.
Our capital generation model remains strong and we will maintain a
balanced approach when deploying resources, by investing to fuel growth
in our core businesses, and returning capital to shareholders.”
A webcast replay of the presentation and presentation materials will be
available today on the unum.com
website.
ABOUT UNUM GROUP
Unum (www.unum.com)
is one of the leading providers of employee benefits products and
services and the largest provider of disability insurance products in
the United States and the United Kingdom.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
We analyze our performance using non-GAAP financial measures. A non-GAAP
financial measure is a numerical measure of a company's performance,
financial position, or cash flows that excludes or includes amounts that
are not normally excluded or included in the most directly comparable
measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. The non-GAAP
financial measure of "after-tax operating income" differs from net
income as presented in our consolidated operating results and income
statements prepared in accordance with GAAP due to the exclusion of net
realized investment gains and losses and non-operating
retirement-related gains or losses. We believe operating income is a
better performance measure and better indicator of the profitability and
underlying trends in our business.
Realized investment gains or losses depend on market conditions and do
not necessarily relate to decisions regarding the underlying business of
our segments. Our investment focus is on investment income to support
our insurance liabilities as opposed to the generation of realized
investment gains or losses. Although we may experience realized
investment gains or losses which will affect future earnings levels, a
long-term focus is necessary to maintain profitability over the life of
the business since our underlying business is long-term in nature, and
we need to earn the interest rates assumed in calculating our
liabilities.
The amortization of prior period actuarial gains or losses, a component
of the net periodic benefit cost for our pensions and other
postretirement benefit plans, is driven by market performance as well as
plan amendments and is not indicative of the operational results of our
businesses. We believe that excluding the amortization of prior period
gains or losses from operating income or loss provides investors with
additional information for comparison and analysis of our operating
results. Although we manage our non-operating retirement-related gains
or losses separately from the operational performance of our business,
these gains or losses impact the overall profitability of our company
and have historically increased or decreased over time, depending on
plan amendments and market conditions and the resulting impact on the
actuarial gains or losses in our pensions and other postretirement
benefit plans.
We may at other times exclude certain other items from our discussion of
financial ratios and metrics in order to enhance the understanding and
comparability of our operational performance and the underlying
fundamentals, but this exclusion is not an indication that similar items
may not recur and does not replace net income or net loss as a measure
of our overall profitability.
Information reconciling the Company’s outlook on after-tax operating
income growth per share to the comparable GAAP financial measure is not
provided. The only amounts excluded from after-tax operating income are
those described in the preceding paragraphs. While the amortization of
prior period actuarial gains or losses in our net periodic benefit cost
for our pensions and other postretirement benefit plans is generally
consistent in a given annual period and can reasonably be predicted, the
Company is unable to predict with reasonable certainty realized
investment gains and losses, which are affected by overall market
conditions and also by factors such as an economic or political change
in the country of the issuer, a regulatory change pertaining to the
issuer’s industry, a significant improvement or deterioration in the
cash flows of the issuer, unforeseen accounting irregularities or fraud
committed by an issuer, movement in credit spreads, ratings upgrades or
downgrades, a change in the issuer’s marketplace or business prospects,
or any other event that significantly affects the issuers of the fixed
maturity securities which the Company holds in its investment portfolio.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
Certain information in this press release constitutes "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are those not based on
historical information, but rather relate to our outlook, future
operations, strategies, financial results, or other developments and
speak only as of the date made. These forward-looking statements,
including statements about anticipated growth in after-tax operating
income per share, are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. The following
factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time, may
cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the
forward-looking statements: (1) sustained periods of low interest rates;
(2) fluctuation in insurance reserve liabilities and claim payments due
to changes in claim incidence, recovery rates, mortality and morbidity
rates, and policy benefit offsets due to, among other factors, the rate
of unemployment and consumer confidence, the emergence of new diseases,
epidemics, or pandemics, new trends and developments in medical
treatments, the effectiveness of our claims operational processes, and
changes in government programs; (3) unfavorable economic or business
conditions, both domestic and foreign; (4) legislative, regulatory, or
tax changes, both domestic and foreign, including the effect of
potential legislation and increased regulation in the current political
environment; (5) investment results, including, but not limited to,
changes in interest rates, defaults, changes in credit spreads,
impairments, and the lack of appropriate investments in the market which
can be acquired to match our liabilities; (6) a cyber attack or other
security breach could result in the unauthorized acquisition of
confidential data; (7) the failure of our business recovery and incident
management processes to resume our business operations in the event of a
natural catastrophe, cyber attack, or other event; (8) increased
competition from other insurers and financial services companies due to
industry consolidation, new entrants to our markets, or other factors;
(9) execution risk related to our technology needs; (10) changes in our
financial strength and credit ratings; (11) damage to our reputation due
to, among other factors, regulatory investigations, legal proceedings,
external events, and/or inadequate or failed internal controls and
procedures; (12) actual experience that deviates from our assumptions
used in pricing, underwriting, and reserving; (13) actual persistency
and/or sales growth that is higher or lower than projected; (14) changes
in demand for our products due to, among other factors, changes in
societal attitudes, the rate of unemployment, consumer confidence,
and/or legislative and regulatory changes, including healthcare reform;
(15) effectiveness of our risk management program; (16) contingencies
and the level and results of litigation; (17) availability of
reinsurance in the market and the ability of our reinsurers to meet
their obligations to us; (18) ineffectiveness of our derivatives hedging
programs due to changes in the economic environment, counterparty risk,
ratings downgrades, capital market volatility, changes in interest
rates, and/or regulation; (19) changes in accounting standards,
practices, or policies; (20) fluctuation in foreign currency exchange
rates; (21) ability to generate sufficient internal liquidity and/or
obtain external financing; (22) recoverability and/or realization of the
carrying value of our intangible assets, long-lived assets, and deferred
tax assets; and (23) terrorism, both within the U.S. and abroad, ongoing
military actions, and heightened security measures in response to these
types of threats.
For further discussion of risks and uncertainties which could cause
actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, see Part 1, Item 1A “ Risk Factors” of our annual report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and, to the extent
applicable, our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The
forward-looking statements in this press release are being made as of
the date of this press release, and the Company expressly disclaims any
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained
herein, even if made available on our website or otherwise.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161215005914/en/
Unum Group
Investors:
Tom White, 423-294-8996
or
Matt
Barnett, 423-294-7498
or
Media:
Jim Sabourin, 423-294-6300
Source: Unum Group