(Bloomberg) -- WellPoint Inc., the second-largest for-profit health insurer in the U.S., raised its earnings forecast for the year as the company adds customers through the exchanges set up under Obamacare.
Net income this year will be greater than $8.20 a share, the Indianapolis-based company said in a statement today. WellPoint previously predicted earnings per share of more than $8. Analysts expect $8.39 a share, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
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WellPoint expects 1 million to 1.3 million net new customers this year and mid-single-digit percentage increases in operating revenue and operating gain, the company said.
“While it is early in 2014, we are encouraged by results thus far across our businesses and we believe exchanges are tracking our general expectations,” CEO Joseph Swedish said in the statement.
WellPoint executives are briefing investors and analysts at a conference in New York today beginning at 8 a.m. The company said Jan. 29 it had added 500,000 members since enrollment began under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
