Jefferson-Pilot Reports Lower 1st Quarter Net Income

By Staff Writer

April 29, 2003 at 08:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, April 29, 2003, 12:46 p.m. EDT – Jefferson-Pilot Corp., Greensboro, N.C., is reporting $115 million in net income for the first quarter on $888 million in revenue, compared with $146 million in net income on $885 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2002.

Jefferson-Pilot owns broadcast stations, and it also sells individual life insurance, employee benefits, and annuities and investment products.

The individual life unit generated $76 million in operating income for the latest quarter on $466 million in revenue, up from $70 million in operating income on $447 million in revenue.

Benefit Partners, the benefits unit, generated $12 million in operating income on $198 million in revenue, compared with $13 million in operating income on $163 million in revenue.

The annuity and investment products unit generated $21 million in operating income on $170 million in revenue. Results were about the same as they were for the first quarter of 2002.

Most of the annuities that Jefferson-Pilot sells are fixed annuities. The company's sales of fixed annuities fell to $115 million, from $186 million. Effective investment spreads on fixed annuities fell to 7.9%, from 9.2%, because of a combination of the decline in general interest rates and the stability of the minimum returns Jefferson-Pilot has promised to annuity holders.

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