AFLAC Earned $1.48 Per Share for Q4

After the closing bell, AFLAC ($AFL) reported Q4 operating earnings of $1.48 per share which matched Wall Street’s estimate. Three months ago, the company told us to expect earnings to range between $1.46 and $1.51 per share, so they were squarely in the ballpark.

A lot of people are concerned about the impact of the weaker yen on AFLAC’s bottom line. It turns out the yen dinged their earnings by four cents per share last quarter. It hurts, but it’s not that bad. On a currency neutral basis, earnings rose by 4.8% from a year ago.

For the full-year, operating earnings came in at $6.60 per share. The full-year earnings were actually boosted by a penny per share thanks to the yen/dollar rate. Earnings for the year rose by 5.1%.

As far as this year is concerned, CEO Daniel P. Amos said:

I want to reiterate that our objective for 2013 has not changed: To increase operating earnings per diluted share 4% to 7%, or approximately $6.86 to $7.06 per share, on a currency neutral basis. Therefore, if the yen/dollar exchange rate averages 90 yen for the full year, it’s likely operating earnings per diluted share will be $6.37 to $6.57 for 2013. I would point out that 2013 earnings comparisons to 2012 will be more difficult because earnings in 2012 were significantly better than we originally anticipated.

In the after-hours market, the stock is off about 1.6%.

Here’s a look at how much the yen has plunged over the last four months.

Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on February 5th, 2013 at 7:24 pm

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