Humana (NYSE: HUM) 2Q Net Income Rises 21 Percent

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) reported a 21 percent increase in second-quarter profit Monday due to a strong performance in its vast government segment, according to Associated Press.

The company raised its net income-per-share expectations for the full year to a range of $5.65 to $5.75, compared to a prior range of $5.55 to $5.65. Analysts expect $5.71 per share, on average.

The company earned $340.1 million, or $2 per share, up from $281.8 million, or $1.67 per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 9.5 percent to $8.65 billion from $7.9 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected $1.67 per share in net income on $8.61 billion in revenue.

The write-down in the quarter amounted to $147.5 million, or 55 cents per share, in the second quarter, of which $117 million, or 44 cents per share, came from medical claims reserves.

Humana posted quarterly pretax income of $451.2 million in its government segment, up from $404.7 million a year ago.

Its Medicare Advantage membership grew 17 percent to 1.76 million as of June 30. That contributed to an 18 percent boost to $4.89 billion in Medicare Advantage premiums and administrative service fees.

Membership in Humana's stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans totaled 1.79 million people as of June 30, compared to just below 2 million a year ago. However, premium revenue rose 10 percent to $700.2 million and the company increased premiums per member per month by about 18 percent.

Pretax earnings in the government segment reached $696.9 million in the first half of the year, an increase of $126.1 million from 2009.

Meanwhile, Humana's commercial segment reported quarterly pretax earnings of $115.2 million, up sharply from $35.3 million a year ago.

Commercial segment medical membership stood at 3.28 million as of June 30, down 162,800 from a year ago. Premiums and administrative services fees for the segment dropped 2 percent to $1.84 billion.

Military services membership totaled just over 3 million, up about 1 percent from a year ago, but revenue fell slightly to $907.9 million.