(Reuters) -Elevance Health on Wednesday forecast 2024 profit above Wall Street’s expectations, after beating fourth-quarter sales estimates aided by higher premiums in its health insurance business and demand for its Carelon health services unit.
Earlier this month, rival health insurer UnitedHealth finished the year with higher-than-expected costs due to increased medical services, but said it did not expect those levels to remain through 2024.
Humana said last week an increase in demand for medical care among older adults would hurt its fourth-quarter results and could potentially hit its 2024 outlook, if those costs persist.
However, Elevance’s medical loss ratio – the percentage of claims paid to premiums collected – was 89.2% for the fourth-quarter, compared to analysts’ average estimate of 89.4%, according to LSEG data.
On an adjusted basis, the health insurer expects full-year profit of more than $37.10 per share in 2024. Analysts are expecting a profit of $37.05 per share, according to LSEG data.
The company reported sales of $42.5 billion in the fourth quarter, above analysts’ estimate of $42.05 billion, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh and Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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