Bloomfield health insurer Cigna Corp. on Thursday said its third-quarter profits nearly doubled due to growth in its commercial health plans and pharmacy benefits unit.
For the July-September period, Cigna posted net income of $1.35 billion, or $3.57 a diluted share, up from $772 million, or $3.14 a diluted share, in the year-ago period.
Revenues of more than $38.56 billion, up from $11.4 billion in the third quarter of 2018, beat Wall Street estimates of $34.1 billion, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Cigna said revenues from its domestic health insurance business jumped almost 12 percent to $9.15 billion in the period as it added customers and raised premiums on plans sold to large employers and to self-insured customers.
The insurer’s health-services business, which now includes St. Louis-based pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts, which it bought last year for $67 billion, also rose to $24.88 billion.
Cigna raised its earnings forecast from $16.60 to $16.90 a share to the range of $16.80 and $17 a share.
Cigna’s pre-market shares, as of about 7:30 a.m., were being traded at $179.90, up nearly 2 percent, from $176.44 on Wednesday, according to Nasdaq.
In Connecticut, Cigna will be busy in the coming months as it looks to obtain approval from Bloomfield’s zoning board to add a 5,310-square-foot addition onto its training and learning center known as Cigna University.
Meantime, the insurer is also planning a $90 million renovation of its Bloomfield campus.
