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Aetna posts loss
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November 7, 2001: 7:16 a.m. ET
But results from biggest health insurer top Wall Street forecasts.
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NEW YORK (CNNmoney) - Aetna Inc. reported a third-quarter operating loss Wednesday that was wider than a year earlier but was far narrower than Wall Street forecasts.
The nation's biggest health insurer posted a loss of $49.3 million, or 34 cents a share, before extraordinary items. That's wider than the loss of $42.3 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. According to the research firm First Call, analysts who follow the company expected a loss of 55 cents a share.
Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna (AET: Research, Estimates) blamed high medical costs for its losses, saying the benefits of strategic and operational changes currently under way won't be evident until 2002 or 2003.
Including extraordinary items, Aetna posted a net loss of $54.4 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with income of $176.8 million, or $1.24 a share, a year earlier.
Revenue declined 8 percent to $5.52 billion.
Aetna shares rose $1.16 to $32.01 Tuesday. 
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