WellPoint Earnings Up
Indiana-based WellPoint on Wednesday announced that first-quarter earnings increased by 20% to $731.8 million, or $1.09 per share, from $611.7 million, or 98 cents per share, a year earlier, the AP/Denver Post reports. According to WellPoint, first-quarter earnings included four cents per share in stock option costs and net realized investment losses of one cent per share, and 2005 first-quarter earnings included tax benefits of about four cents per share.
In addition, WellPoint reported that first-quarter revenue increased by 26% from a year earlier to $13.61 billion, in large part because of a 26% increase in premium revenue and 34% increase in administrative fees. Enrollment in WellPoint health plans totaled 34.2 million members at the end of the first quarter, compared with 28.5 million members a year earlier, with about 4.8 million members added through the acquisition of New York-based WellChoice in December 2005 (AP/Denver Post, 4/26).