Anthem's 4Q profit surges on higher rates, tax benefit

Anthem's fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as it raised rates and booked a huge tax cut benefit.

The health insurer said it had to raise rates to cover rising costs. At the same time, it recorded a $1.1 billion benefit from corporate tax cuts, giving the company an effective tax rate of 3.1 percent.

Profit surged to $1.23 billion, or $4.67 per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $1.29 per share, or 4 cents better than Wall Street had expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue rose 4.4 percent to $22.68 billion, also topping analyst expectations.

For the year, the company reported profit of $3.84 billion, or $14.35 per share. Revenue was reported as $89.06 billion.

The Indianapolis company expects profit to top $14.28 per share in 2018.

Shares of Anthem Inc. rose slightly in early trading.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ANTM at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ANTM