Unum President and CEO Tom Watjen delivers the keynote address in this 2013 file photo.Unum Group met Wall Street earnings expectations for the first quarter and was ahead of its earnings for the same period last year.
“It was a good start to the year,” Unum CEO Tom Watjen wrote in a letter to employees on Wednesday. “Many of the favorable growth and profitability trends we experienced in 2014 have carried over.”
Among them, strong sales and premium growth, he noted.
The Chattanooga-based company had “outstanding” sales growth across its core businesses, mainly through adding new customers and expanding its services for those it already had, he wrote.
Specifically, Unum’s after-tax operating income of $224.8 million, or 89 cents per share for the first quarter of 2015, compared to $222.6 million, or 85 cents per share, for the first quarter of 2014. Net income was $212.9 million, or 84 cents per share, down slightly compared to a year ago when it was $225.8 million, or 86 cents per share.