(Reuters) – Centene Corp raised annual profit forecast and beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Friday, helped by higher premiums from its commercial insurance business.
The health insurer banks more on commercial plans and state government-backed Medicaid health plans, which cover medical care costs for people with limited income and resources.
Commercial plan memberships grew to 4.77 million at the end of the first quarter from 3.53 million from a year earlier, and helped partially cushion impact from a drop in Medicaid plan members.
On an adjusted basis, the health insurer now expects annual profit of more than $6.80 per share, compared with its previous forecast of more than $6.70.
Analysts were expecting a profit of $6.78 per share, according to LSEG data.
On an adjusted basis, Centene earned $2.26 per share in the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.08 per share.
(Reporting by Vaibhav Sadhamta and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
Comments