US WellPoint reports USD464m profit in Q4 

(MENAFN) US second largest health insurer WellPoint Inc. reported a 38 percent increase in quarterly profits, AP reported.

The company said it made USD464.2 million net profit during the fourth quarter 2012, up from USD335.3 million a year earlier, when it incurred a USD50 million hit from its Medicare Advantage business, which involves privately run versions of the government's Medicare program that covers the elderly and disabled people.

This was helped, in part, by USD243 million in investment gains and an income tax settlement, the company explained.

Operating revenue, which excludes investment gains, climbed less than 1 percent to USD15.27 billion.

The insurer plans to invest USD125 million in integrating recently acquired Amerigroup Corp. into its business, and it says it could take hits from flu claims, possible cuts to Medicare funding and an increase in health care use.

The company's USD4.46 billion acquisition of Medicaid coverage provider Amerigroup Corp was a main reason for increasing its membership base by more than 5 percent to 36.1 million people in the quarter compared to a year earlier.