Anthem posts $177M profit on strong membership growth

INDIANAPOLIS – Rapidly growing health insurer Anthem Inc. reported a 67 percent jump in second-quarter earnings Thursday and came in ahead of Wall Street expectations on the strength of membership gains.

Anthem, the Blue Cross Blue Shield provider in Maine and other states, also increased its projection of future earnings.

Enrollment in benefits plans grew to 11.7 million members – a 41 percent increase compared with a year ago including Anthem’s acquisition last summer of Trigon Healthcare, and a 10 percent increase not counting customers gained in that $4 billion deal.

For the April-June period, Indianapolis-based Anthem reported net income of $177.3 million, or $1.25 per share. That compared with a profit of $106.2 million, or $1.01 per share, for the year-ago period.

Operating revenue increased to $4.1 billion from $2.8 billion – a 43 percent gain overall, and 10 percent not counting the acquisition of Virginia-based Trigon.

Excluding one-time gains and losses in both periods, Anthem posted a profit of $184 million, or $1.30 per share, compared with $104.5 million and 99 cents a share in 2002.

The performance beat by a nickel the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call, who forecast a profit of $1.25 per share.