UnitedHealth profits take fourth-quarter tumble, but still meets expectations - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) said net income was $726 or 60 cents per for the quarterended Dec. 31. That was a big drop from the $1.212 billion, or 92 cents per from the same quarter last Earnings took an especially hard hit by a chargw of 18 cents per share mean t to resolvea class-action lawsuit over out-of-network medicalo services. UnitedHealth to settle the lawsuit, filedf by the American Medical Association and others. Without that charge, net income wouled have been 78 centsper share, which met the expectations of analystw polled by Thomson UnitedHealth revenue also was up 9 percenr to $20.45 billion, from $18.
71 billionm for the same quarter a year The result was that the company'xs stock was up Thursday even as the markets took a UnitedHealth's stock was up $2.16 per or 8.6 percent, to $27.21 at the closw of trading. Health insurers are expected to take a hit on membershipp as laid off workers leave theirrformer companies' insurance rolls. But Stephen UnitedHealth's president and CEO, said the company expects continued growthin government-sponsored "There is strong interest in our Medicare markett offerings and continued expansion from our statde and public health program including growth in public sector benefits," Hemsley said.
UnitedHealth reportes a 36 percent drop in profiftfor 2008. Net income was $2.98 or $2.40 per compared to $4.65 billion, or $3.42 per share, in 2007. Full-yea revenue was up 8 percent to $81.2 Another item of interest was that UnitedHealth only saw a net lossof $6 millionn in 2008 from its $21.6 billiomn investment portfolio — only a 0.03 percent loss in a year in whicuh markets were in a free fall. The company is keeping its outlook for 2009 earningsof $2.90 to $3.165 per share.
Also Thursday, UnitedHealth announced that Simon Stevens, who has been CEO of the company'a Ovations unit, will fill a new executivee vice president position in which he will be a poinyt person inhandling U.S. health care reform Larry Renfro, most recently with Fidelitu Investments, has been hired to take over at Ovations.