Third quarter profit was up 28 percent over last year at Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group, as the nation's largest health insurer beat analyst expectations and raised financial guidance for the year.
United's health insurance division UnitedHealthcare continued to generate most of the company's revenue in the quarter, but the Optum unit for health care services generated profit at an outsized pace. The division includes health care services for patients, a division for analytics and information technology and a pharmaceutical benefits management (PBM) business.
Of the three businesses, health care services grew revenue at the fastest pace during the quarter at 15 percent over the year-ago period to $6 billion. Through acquisitions in recent years, United is now one of the nation's largest operators of surgery and urgent care centers, and also has been purchasing large medical groups.
On the health insurance side, United's global division, which features coverage and care delivery in South America, posted revenue growth of 18 percent over the year-ago period to nearly $2.4 billion.
For the quarter, UnitedHealth Group overall posted earnings of $3.2 billion on revenue of $56.6 billion, for a profit margin of 5.6 percent _ an improvement over the third quarter last year.
On a per-share basis, adjusted earnings of $3.41 beat by 12 cents the earnings expected among analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
For 2018, United now expects net earnings per share to approach $12.10, up from the prior range of $11.80 to $12.05, and adjusted net earnings per share to approach $12.80, which is beyond the prior range of $12.50 to $12.75.
