CNO Financial reports quarterly loss due to tax reform

CNO Financial Group Inc. on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter loss that it attributed to the one-time impact of the federal tax reform act.

The Carmel-based insurance holding company lost $70.9 million, or 42 cents per share, compared with a profit of $234.2 million, or $1.34 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2016.

CNO said profit would have been $101.6 million, or 61 cents per share, in the quarter, without the effects of tax reform.

“The Tax Reform Act will be an ongoing benefit to the company, with the estimated effective tax rate in the 21 to 23 percent range,” the company said.

The adjusted earning of 61 cents per share topped the average estimate of 41 cents per share by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

CNO reported revenue of $1.09 billion in the period, up from $1 billion in the same quarter of 2016.

Total collected premiums were $940.9 million, down 1 percent from the previous year.

"While our fourth quarter earnings were negatively impacted by the Tax Reform Act, we expect the ongoing improvements to our income will more than offset the one-time accounting impacts," CEO Gary Bhojwani said in written comments.

For the year, the company reported profit of $175.6 million, or $1.02 per share. Revenue was reported as $4.3 billion.

CNO shares closed at $22.88 each Tuesday, a climb of 10 percent in the last 12 months.