Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC)
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From Jun 2019 to Jun 2024

Insurer Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) said sales of variable annuities and other retirement products aren't suffering from any "taint" of accepting government assistance last month, the company's chief executive said Thursday.

Comments from customers on the matter "have been few and far between," CEO Dennis Glass said during the company's earnings conference call Thursday.

"We are one of two [insurers] that decided to take this," he said. He compared that to the "700 or 800 commercial banks that operate with CPP," or the Capital Purchase Program operated by the U.S. Treasury that has made equity investments in financial-services companies that need help raising their capital levels.

Lincoln National and Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) were the two insurers that accepted help from the program last month, which is a part of Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

CEO Glass also said the company hasn't run into serious problems retaining distributors or employees.

On Wednesday, Lincoln reported a loss of $161.4 million, or 62 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $124.7 million, or 48 cents a share. It was the company's third consecutive quarterly loss.

The latest results included a 65-cent-a-share charge related to the sale of its U.K. arm and 84 cents in charges related to investment losses and other items.

Lincoln's operating income, which excludes realized investment gains and losses, fell to 81 cents a share from $1.24 last year, below the Thomson Reuters analyst estimate of 83 cents per share.

Shares of Lincoln National and other life insurers surged Thursday, after Lincoln National and Hartford reported second-quarter results.

Shares of Lincoln National recently were up 9.8% to $19.81. Hartford Financial was up 10.3% to $16.50 recently.

The Dow Jones US Life Insurance Index (DJUSIL-DJX) rose 4.38% recently.

-By Lavonne Kuykendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4141; lavonne.kuykendall@dowjones.com