(Reuters) – Humana Inc reported a near 43% rise in quarterly adjusted profit on Wednesday, as a slow rebound in elective procedures kept medical costs in check.
The health insurer affirmed its annual adjusted profit forecast at about $25 per share, even as rivals including UnitedHealth Group Inc and Elevance Health, lifted their annual earnings outlook last month.
Humana had also raised it forecast in September as there was no COVID-19 “headwind materializing” and on lower-than-expected medical cost trends in the company’s Medicare Advantage and Medicaid businesses.
Humana’s ratio of medical expenses to premiums collected was 85.6%.
The company’s adjusted net income rose to $1.14 billion, or $6.88 per share in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $802 million, or $4.83 per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Raghav Mahobe and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
