Aetna 1Q profit rises 8 percent

Health insurer Aetna Inc. said Thursday first-quarter profits rose 8 percent on increased premiums, membership growth and continued cost cutting measures.

Aetna earned $434.6 million, or 81 cents a share, for the January-March period, up from $401.7 million, or 68 cents a share, a year ago.

The results beat Wall Street projections. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for earnings of 77 cents per share.

Shares of Aetna jumped $2.55, nearly 6 percent, to $47.55 at the Thursday open of the New York Stock Exchange.

Revenue for the quarter was $6.7 billion, up from $6.2 billion in the same quarter in 2006.

"Our strong financial results in the first quarter demonstrate that our disciplined strategy of profitable growth is working," Aetna chairman and chief executive officer Ronald A. Williams said.

The company said that its medical membership increased by 270,000 in the first three months of 2007 to a total membership of 15.7 million.

Joseph M. Zubretsky, Aetna's chief financial officer, said that based on first quarter results the company was raising the annual operating earnings per share estimate to $3.35 for the year and 79 cents per share for second quarter.