Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Health insurance giant Aetna Inc. reported today a 22 percent rise in fourth-quarter profits from a year ago, citing increased premiums and fees. Its shares rose 5 percent in early trading.
Aetna said net income rose to $300.7 million, or $1.95 per share, in the last three months of 2004 from $249.5 million, or $1.56 per share during the same period a year earlier.
In Nevada, Aetna's membership increased to 65,000 people in the fourth quarter, from 57,000 in the year-ago quarter.
In Nevada, Aetna offers group medical, dental, life and disability plans. The company also offers health savings accounts and health reimbursement accounts.
It said its operating income excluding gains from what the company described as a "favorable development of prior-period health care cost estimates," rose to $1.82 per share in the latest quarter from $1.32 a year earlier.
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