Cigna Reports 60% Decline in Profit

Cigna Corp. said fourth-quarter profit fell 60% from a year earlier when the fourth-largest U.S. provider of health insurance almost doubled its earnings on cost cuts and the sale of a unit.

Net income for Cigna, which has lost almost 4 million members since 2002, fell to $224 million, or $1.78 a share, from $558 million, or $4.16, the Philadelphia-based company said. Revenue fell 3% to $4.21 billion.

Enrollment in Cigna health plans last quarter fell 6% from a year earlier to 9.1 million and was down from 11.5 million in 2003. Chief Executive Ed Hanway is trying to rebuild Cigna’s customer base by offering new insurance plans.

Cigna said adjusted income, excluding investment losses and a gain on the sale of a unit, was $1.98 a share, beating the $1.66 average estimate of analysts, according to Thomson Financial.

Cigna forecast first-quarter adjusted income of $205 million to $225 million, or $1.65 to $1.80 a share. The company maintained earnings projections for all of 2006, with a range of $900 million to $960 million.

Shares of Cigna rose $1.32 to $121.05.