CVS Health, which plans to acquire Hartford health insurer Aetna for $69 billion, said it posted higher third quarter profits due to its improving pharmacy retail business.Â
Meantime, in a conference call Tuesday, CVS CEO Larry J. Merlo said the pharmacy giant’s proposed Aetna deal has received approval from 23 of 28 state regulatory bodies, and is on pace to be completed before Thanksgiving on Nov. 22.
The two-week closing outlook comes after CVS and Aetna previously received approval from both the Connecticut Insurance Department and the U.S. Justice Department, contingent on Aetna divesting its standalone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business.Â
The proposed deal, however, could receive a challenge in New York, where regulators said they may block certain parts of the deal.Â
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, CVS netted $1.3 billion, or $1.36 a diluted share, up from $1.2 billion, or $1.26 a diluted share, in the year-ago period.
Total revenues climbed 2.4 percent, or $1.1 billion, to $47.3 billion. That increase was driven by CVS’ pharmacy retail revenues growing 7 percent to $20.8 billion.
CVS maintained its project full-year earnings outlook in the range of $6.98 to $7.08.
