UNMA - Unum Group (UNM) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-05-01 12:21:11 ET
Unum Group (UNM)
Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call
May 1, 2024 08:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Matt Royal - SVP, IR
Rick McKenney - President and CEO
Steve Zabel - CFO
Chris Pyne - EVP, Group Benefits
Timothy Arnold - EVP, Voluntary Benefits and President-Colonial Life
Mark Till - CEO, Unum International
Conference Call Participants
Ryan Krueger - KBW
Elyse Greenspan - Wells Fargo
Suneet Kamath - Jefferies
Tom Gallagher - Evercore ISI
Joel Hurwitz - Dowling & Partners
Jimmy Bhullar - JPMorgan
Wilma Burdis - Raymond James
Mike Ward - Citi
Wes Carmichael - Autonomous Research
Mark Hughes - Truist Securities
Joshua Shanker - Bank of America
Presentation
Operator
Thank you for standing by. My name is Christa and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Unum Group First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. All line have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]
Thank you. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matt Royal, Head of Investor Relations. Matt, you may begin your conference.
Matt Royal
Thank you, Christa and good morning to everyone. Welcome to Unum Group's first quarter 2024 earnings call. Please note that today's call may include forward-looking statements and actual results, which are subject to risk and uncertainties, may differ materially, and we are not obligated to update any of these statements. Please refer to our earnings release and our periodic filings with the SEC for a description of factors that could cause actual results to differ from expected results.
Yesterday afternoon, Unum released our first quarter earnings press release, financial supplement. Those materials may also be found on the Investors section of our website, along with a presentation of the most directly comparable GAAP measures and reconciliations of any non-GAAP financial measures included in today's presentation.
References made to -- today to core operations sales and premium results including Unum International are presented on a constant currency basis.
Participating in this morning's call are Unum’s President and CEO, Rick McKenney; Chief Financial Officer, Steve Zabel; Tim Arnold, who heads our Colonial Life and Voluntary Benefits lines; Chris Pyne for Group Benefits; and Mark Till, CEO of Unum International.
Now, I'll turn the call over to Rick.
Rick McKenney
Thank you, Matt. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today. We're excited to discuss our exceptional first quarter results with you, which reflect a strong start to the year and a continuation of the success achieved over the past several years.
At our outlook meeting in January, we laid out our expectations and plans to continue our momentum through 2024, including our ability to maintain industry-leading margins, grow our top line at a higher rate, and build further capital flexibility, including eliminating needs for our Closed Block.
Our first quarter results show our ability to execute on these plans with a 13.6% growth in EPS to $2.12 per share, a record level of earnings for the company. $350 million of statutory earnings, 6.6% increase in core operations premium growth, and capital metrics well in excess of our targets.
Coupled with our team's strong performance, the market backdrop and economic environment continues to be favorable and supportive of our business. The first quarter concluded on a positive note for the economy with job growth surpassing expectations in March and a steady rise in wages. This was evident in our existing client base, as we observe sustained natural growth that played an ongoing role in our success, although at more typical levels....
Unum Group (UNM) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript