UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s fourth-quarter net income slipped 1 percent, as a rise in costs from medical claims and other expenses countered revenue gains for the nation’s largest health insurer, The Associated Press reports.
The Minnetonka, Minn., insurer with major Hartford operations also said Thursday it was reaffirming a forecast for 2013 earnings it made in November. UnitedHealth shares then fell before markets opened for trading.
UnitedHealth earned $1.24 billion, or $1.20 per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That compares with $1.26 billion, or $1.17 per share, in the last quarter of 2011, when the company had more shares outstanding.
Total revenue climbed 11 percent to $28.77 billion, but medical costs grew 12 percent to $20.8 billion.
The insurer normally trumps Wall Street earnings expectations, but this performance matched average analyst forecasts.
Analysts expected earnings of $1.20 per share on $28.23 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.
The insurer turned in “a solid quarter with few surprises, but less impressive than the company’s performance earlier in the year,” Leerink Swann analyst Jason Gurda said in a research note.
