Aetna (AET) Guides FY15 Operating EPS Ahead of Investor Conference

Aetna (NYSE: AET) disclosed the following Wednesday:

On December 11, 2014, Aetna Inc. (“Aetna,” “we,” “us” or “our”) will hold an investor conference (the “Conference”) in New York, New York. During the Conference, Aetna executives will discuss the company's strategy, performance and outlook, including reviewing business trends. At the Conference, Aetna management intends to disclose, among other things, that:

• Aetna continues to project full-year 2014 operating revenue to be in a range of $57 billion to $58 billion. (1)

• Aetna continues to project full-year 2014 operating earnings per share of $6.60 to $6.70. (2)

• Aetna's full-year 2015 operating revenue is projected to be at least $62 billion. (The Street is at $61.7 billion.) (1)

• Aetna's full-year 2015 operating earnings per share is projected to be at least $6.90. (The Street sees $7.17.) (2) Consistent with past practice, this projection assumes no development of prior years' health care cost estimates. Additional assumptions underlying Aetna’s 2015 operating earnings per share projection will be provided during the Conference.

The Conference is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on December 11, 2014. Investors, analysts and the general public are invited to listen to the presentation and to access the slides for the presentation over the Internet via Aetna's Investor Information link at www.aetna.com/investor. A webcast replay will be available via Aetna's Investor Information link at www.aetna.com/investor for 14 days. Website addresses are included for reference only. The information contained on Aetna's website is not part of this Form 8-K and is not incorporated by reference into this Form 8-K.

(1) Projected full-year 2014 operating revenue excludes from total revenue net realized capital gains of $80.6 million pretax reported by Aetna for the nine months ended September 30, 2014. Projected operating revenue in all periods also excludes any future net realized capital gains or losses and other items, if any, from total revenue. Aetna is not able to project the amount of future net realized capital gains or losses or any such other items and therefore cannot reconcile projected operating revenue to projected total revenue in any period.

(2) Projected full-year 2014 operating earnings and projected full-year 2014 operating earnings per share exclude from net income attributable to Aetna net realized capital gains of $52.2 million ($80.6 million pretax), transaction and integration-related costs of $101.9 million ($154.8 million pretax), a loss on early extinguishment of debt of $59.7 million ($91.9 million pretax) and a release of a litigation-related reserve of $67.0 million ($103.0 million pretax), each reported by Aetna for the nine months ended September 30, 2014. Projected full-year 2014 operating earnings and projected full-year 2014 operating earnings per share also exclude from net income attributable to Aetna estimated after-tax amortization of other acquired intangible assets of approximately $157 million ($241 million pretax), which includes amortization of other acquired intangible assets of $119.4 million ($183.6 million pretax) reported by Aetna for the nine months ended September 30, 2014. Projected operating earnings and projected operating earnings per share in all periods also exclude from net income attributable to Aetna projected integration-related costs related to the Coventry Health Care, Inc. ("Coventry"), InterGlobal group (“InterGlobal”) and bSwift, LLC ("bSwift") acquisitions, any future net realized capital gains or losses, amortization of other acquired intangible assets and other items, if any, that neither relate to the ordinary course of our business nor reflect our underlying business performance. Aetna is not able to project the amount of future net realized capital gains or losses or any such other items (other than projected integration-related costs related to the Coventry, InterGlobal and bSwift acquisitions) and therefore cannot reconcile projected operating earnings to projected net income attributable to Aetna or projected operating earnings per share to projected net income attributable to Aetna per share in any period. Although the excluded items may recur, management believes that operating earnings and operating earnings per share provide a more useful comparison of Aetna's underlying business performance from period to period. After-tax amortization of other acquired intangible assets relates to our acquisition activities, including Coventry, InterGlobal and bSwift. However, this amortization does not directly relate to the underwriting or servicing of products for customers and is not directly related to the core performance of Aetna’s business operations. Net realized capital gains and losses arise from various types of transactions, primarily in the course of managing a portfolio of assets that support the payment of liabilities. However, these transactions do not directly relate to the underwriting or servicing of products for customers and are not directly related to the core performance of Aetna's business operations. In addition, management uses operating earnings to assess business performance and to make decisions regarding Aetna's operations and the allocation of resources among Aetna's businesses. Operating earnings is also the measure reported to the Chief Executive Officer for these purposes. Non-GAAP financial measures we disclose, such as operating earnings, operating earnings per share and operating revenue, should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures determined or calculated in accordance with GAAP. Projected operating earnings per share for the full year 2014 and 2015 reflect the low end of a range of 359 million to 360 million weighted average diluted shares and a range of 350 million to 352 million weighted average diluted shares, respectively.

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