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(Reuters) – UnitedHealth Group Inc topped quarterly profit estimates and raised its full-year profit target on Thursday, as America’s largest health insurer announced strong growth from its Optum unit which manages pharmaceutical benefits.
The industry barometer has raised its annual profit target for the second time this year and now expects adjusted earnings of $ 18.30 to $ 18.80 per share in 2021, compared to its previous forecast of 18. $ 10 to $ 18.60.
For the quarter ended June 30, the company reported a medical claims ratio – the percentage of collected premiums spent on medical services – of 82.8%, up from 70.2% a year earlier, when patients deferred non-emergency care due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly half of all Americans have been fully immunized according to the latest government data, and daily new cases of COVID-19 declined in May and June, encouraging people to return to doctor’s offices for routine medical care and non-elective.
Revenues from UnitedHealth’s Optum unit, which manages pharmacy benefits and provides health data analysis services, increased 17.2% to $ 38.3 billion from a year ago .
UnitedHealth reported adjusted earnings of $ 4.70 per share, beating estimates of $ 4.43 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The company has beaten Wall Street expectations for earnings per share for at least the past eight quarters.
(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bangalore; Editing by Anshuman Daga and Shinjini Ganguli)
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